Rathbones Group PLC Purchases 7,695 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Rathbones Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 319,502 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 7,695 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $73,342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on DHR. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $277.00 price objective (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $265.00 price target on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $276.57.

Insider Activity

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

DHR traded up $7.99 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $188.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,764,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,316,814. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $171.00 and a twelve month high of $281.70. The stock has a market cap of $134.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.75, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $203.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $229.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 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 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

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

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.