Empire Life Investments Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Empire Life Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 23.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,686 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 14,897 shares during the period. Empire Life Investments Inc.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $17,833,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 15.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $6,566,116,000 after buying an additional 3,217,631 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 3.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,097,986 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,417,342,000 after buying an additional 148,251 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 2.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,552,640 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,265,725,000 after buying an additional 116,299 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 17.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,582,982 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $996,141,000 after buying an additional 535,254 shares during the period. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,715,826 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $382,936,000 after buying an additional 9,942 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Danaher Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE DHR traded up $0.70 on Wednesday, reaching $205.23. The company had a trading volume of 4,572,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,519,168. The firm has a market cap of $148.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $196.80 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The business has a 50 day moving average of $228.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $248.10. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 prior year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Danaher's payout ratio is 20.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 10.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on DHR shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Danaher from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $265.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $278.00.

Danaher 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.