Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Stake Boosted by Weitz Investment Management Inc.

Weitz Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 14.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 403,210 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 52,300 shares during the quarter. Danaher makes up approximately 4.8% of Weitz Investment Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Weitz Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.06% of Danaher worth $92,557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on DHR shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $277.00 price objective (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $278.24.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR traded down $16.49 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $181.42. 7,117,117 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,229,595. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $181.20 and a one year high of $281.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $209.99 and a 200 day moving average of $233.99. The company has a market cap of $129.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.32 dividend. 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 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.