Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Buys 96,174 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,679,156 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 96,174 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.51% of Danaher worth $844,550,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of DHR. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in Danaher in the 3rd quarter worth $5,988,000. Bamco Inc. NY grew its holdings in Danaher by 20.9% during the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 72,419 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $20,134,000 after purchasing an additional 12,500 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in Danaher by 526.8% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 13,496 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $3,753,000 after buying an additional 11,343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 2.9% in the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,270 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling 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 transaction 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. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Danaher from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $277.00 price target (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Danaher from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $290.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $278.24.

Danaher Trading Down 8.3 %

Shares of Danaher stock traded down $16.49 on Friday, reaching $181.42. The company had a trading volume of 7,117,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,229,595. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $209.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.99. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $181.20 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The firm 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 current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates 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 business earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. This is an increase from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.