Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC Acquires 8,489 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 10.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 88,991 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 8,489 shares during the period. Danaher comprises approximately 3.9% of Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $20,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its position in Danaher by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $4,874,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares during the last quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC now owns 238,092 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $66,194,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 1,212.8% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 2,559 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 202,263 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $56,233,000 after purchasing an additional 2,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generate Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,044,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays cut their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded Danaher from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $285.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. 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.com, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE DHR traded up $2.90 during trading on Friday, hitting $210.85. The stock had a trading volume of 3,938,105 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,498,829. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $196.80 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company's 50-day moving average price is $227.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $247.52. The company has a market capitalization of $152.29 billion, a PE ratio of 39.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS 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 last year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 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 given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is an increase from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher's payout ratio is currently 20.45%.

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.