R Squared Ltd Takes Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 360 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $83,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher during the third quarter valued at about $40,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the third quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the third quarter worth about $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $223.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.37. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $221.34 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The company has a fifty day moving average of $235.89 and a 200-day moving average of $253.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Danaher Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $309.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Scotiabank started coverage on Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price target for the company. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Danaher from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays reduced their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

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.