St. Clair Advisors LLC Purchases New Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

St. Clair Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,493 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $572,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its position in Danaher by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $245,925,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR traded up $0.66 on Thursday, reaching $187.47. The stock had a trading volume of 3,097,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,470,141. The company has a market capitalization of $134.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $196.07 and a 200-day moving average of $216.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $171.00 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70.

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

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Danaher's payout ratio is 24.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on 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. decreased their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $263.24.

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.