Palmer Knight Co Acquires 11,274 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Palmer Knight Co lifted its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 36.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 41,836 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,274 shares during the period. Danaher comprises 4.3% of Palmer Knight Co’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Palmer Knight Co’s holdings in Danaher were worth $9,603,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Danaher during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Danaher during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the third quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on DHR shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Danaher from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Danaher from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Danaher from $309.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.57.

Danaher Stock Down 10.0 %

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $223.12 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.16 billion, a PE ratio of 42.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $223.00 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $236.09 and its 200-day moving average is $253.66.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.39% and a return on equity of 10.62%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 20.61%.

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.