APG Asset Management N.V. Purchases 584,942 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 643.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 675,808 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 584,942 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. owned about 0.09% of Danaher worth $149,813,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. 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 position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR traded up $7.99 during trading on Friday, hitting $188.75. 4,764,014 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,316,814. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $203.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $229.91. The company has a market cap of $134.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.75, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $171.00 and a twelve month high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Danaher's payout ratio is 24.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher 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 transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DHR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. 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 research report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Danaher from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $276.57.

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.