Knuff & Co LLC Increases Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Knuff & Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,407 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the quarter. Knuff & Co LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,930,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Tyler Stone Wealth Management boosted its stake in Danaher by 194.8% during the third quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 858 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $238,000 after buying an additional 567 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the third quarter worth $222,000. Patten & Patten Inc. TN bought a new position in Danaher in the third quarter worth about $203,000. Finally, Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 54.3% during the third quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC now owns 2,051 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $570,000 after acquiring an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank began coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 price target on Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR stock opened at $206.01 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $147.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.02, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $196.80 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $221.55 and a 200 day moving average of $241.74.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.24%.

About Danaher

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.