AmeriServ Wealth Advisors Invests $315,000 in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

AmeriServ Wealth Advisors bought a new position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,374 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $315,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $2,130,740,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $391,172,000. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 32.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,361,183 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,460,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566,658 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,934,991 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,821,477,000 after purchasing an additional 992,594 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Danaher by 6,862.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $213,452,000 after buying an additional 916,513 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Danaher Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of DHR stock traded up $2.96 during trading on Thursday, reaching $196.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,709,052 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,376,917. 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 one year low of $171.00 and a one year high of $281.70. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $198.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $220.49. The company has a market cap of $140.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. Analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DHR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $264.40.

Danaher 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.