Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Buys 24,888 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,306,654 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,888 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Danaher were worth $299,942,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at $3,005,442. The trade was a 51.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Danaher Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE DHR opened at $194.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $139.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $198.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $219.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $171.00 and a one year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on DHR. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $264.40.

Danaher Company Profile

Danaher Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets professional, medical, industrial, and commercial products and services worldwide. The Biotechnology segments offers bioprocess technologies, consumables, and services that advance, accelerate, and integrate the development and manufacture of therapeutics; cell line and cell culture media development services; cell culture media, process liquids and buffers for manufacturing, chromatography resins, filtration technologies, aseptic fill finish; single-use hardware and consumables and services, such as the design and installation of full manufacturing suites; lab filtration, separation, and purification; lab-scale protein purification and analytical tools; reagents, membranes, and services; and healthcare filtration solutions.