Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Purchased by Advisory Services Network LLC

Advisory Services Network LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 11.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,108 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 2,107 shares during the quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $4,845,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $13,715,641,000 after acquiring an additional 315,912 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $3,056,996,000 after purchasing an additional 315,446 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Danaher by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,589,019 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,971,609,000 after buying an additional 441,012 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,578,945 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,051,097,000 after buying an additional 26,305 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR traded down $2.87 on Tuesday, hitting $190.10. 1,056,359 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,313,411. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. 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 1-year low of $171.00 and a 1-year high of $281.70. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $203.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $229.00.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on DHR shares. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Danaher from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $265.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $276.57.

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.