Meridian Financial Partners LLC Takes Position in Danaher Corporation $DHR

Meridian Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 4,373 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $896,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Red Tortoise LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 175.0% during the second quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 154 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 5,174 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.42, for a total value of $1,088,713.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,625 shares in the company, valued at $552,352.50. The trade was a 66.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 21,776 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.23, for a total transaction of $4,773,952.48. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 14,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,190,454.19. This trade represents a 59.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 30,248 shares of company stock valued at $6,609,663 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DHR. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, December 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $270.00 target price for the company. Finally, HSBC upped their price target on shares of Danaher from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.25.

Danaher Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE DHR opened at $230.76 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $162.99 billion, a PE ratio of 47.58, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.89. Danaher Corporation has a 12 month low of $171.00 and a 12 month high of $258.23. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $223.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $208.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The conglomerate reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 14.44% and a return on equity of 10.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.71 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 26th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.39%.

About Danaher

Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) is a global science and technology company that designs, manufactures and markets products and services for the life sciences, diagnostics, and environmental and applied markets. The company organizes its operations into business segments focused on Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental & Applied Solutions, supplying instruments, reagents, software and related services that support research, clinical testing, biopharmaceutical development, and industrial and environmental monitoring.

Products and services in Danaher’s portfolio include analytical and diagnostic instruments, laboratory consumables and reagents, digital and software solutions for workflow and data management, field and industrial monitoring equipment, and service and maintenance programs.