Aquatic Capital Management LLC Has $35.95 Million Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Aquatic Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 151.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 156,617 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 94,317 shares during the quarter. Danaher accounts for approximately 1.0% of Aquatic Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Aquatic Capital Management LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $35,951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oxford Asset Management LLP increased its stake in Danaher by 37.2% during the fourth quarter. Oxford Asset Management LLP now owns 2,079 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares during the period. Bolthouse Investments LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at about $247,000. Wills Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Danaher by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Wills Financial Group Inc. now owns 41,797 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $9,594,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares during the period. Capital Analysts LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 17,258 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,961,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 521.9% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 289,642 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $66,488,000 after acquiring an additional 243,066 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company's 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 owns 20,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Danaher Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:DHR traded up $3.26 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $199.17. 3,686,255 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,360,833. The company's 50 day moving average is $200.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $223.46. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $171.00 and a twelve month high of $281.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $142.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 28th. This is an increase from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on DHR shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $264.40.

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.