LPL Financial LLC Purchases 22,903 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 402,244 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 22,903 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.06% of Danaher worth $92,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business's 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE DHR traded down $3.72 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $206.07. 854,005 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,348,063. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $196.80 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $215.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $237.37.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 positive change from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on DHR shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Danaher from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $290.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Danaher from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $278.24.

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.