Cynosure Group LLC Acquires 7,781 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Cynosure Group LLC boosted its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 449.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,512 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 7,781 shares during the quarter. Cynosure Group LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $2,183,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $2,130,740,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $391,172,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Danaher by 6,862.7% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $213,452,000 after acquiring an additional 916,513 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,105,388 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $712,842,000 after acquiring an additional 749,136 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 29,287.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 588,929 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $135,189,000 after buying an additional 586,925 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $277.00 price target (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $265.00 price target for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $278.24.

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Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE DHR traded down $3.29 on Monday, hitting $178.48. 3,950,677 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,373,411. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $171.92 and a fifty-two week 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. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $209.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.73. The firm has a market cap of $127.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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 firm posted $2.09 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is an increase from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is 24.24%.

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.