Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Bought by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. grew its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 56.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,757 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 3,151 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $2,010,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DHR. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank began coverage on Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $265.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $277.00 price objective (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $278.00.

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Danaher Price Performance

DHR stock traded down $7.05 on Monday, reaching $205.02. The company had a trading volume of 5,709,379 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,995,134. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company's fifty day moving average is $222.02 and its 200 day moving average is $242.18. The company has a market cap of $146.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.83, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $196.80 and a 1 year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is an increase from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Danaher's payout ratio is 24.24%.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

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.