Strategic Planning Group LLC Has $3.82 Million Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Strategic Planning Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 30.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,649 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 4,373 shares during the quarter. Strategic Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $3,823,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Danaher by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on DHR shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $263.24.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $192.11 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $191.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $212.97. The firm has a market cap of $137.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.38, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. 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 $171.00 and a 1 year high of $281.70.

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

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 24.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total transaction of $245,925,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at $611,036,665.92. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value 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 approximately $3,005,442. The trade was a 51.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.