Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Purchased by Fiduciary Group LLC

Fiduciary Group LLC grew its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 22,223 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 1,622 shares during the period. Fiduciary Group LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $5,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,749 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc. grew its position in Danaher by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 7,390 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,696,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA grew its position in Danaher by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its position in Danaher by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spinnaker Trust raised its position in Danaher by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 4,304 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $988,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company's stock.

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Danaher Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of DHR traded up $1.61 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $212.97. The company had a trading volume of 3,615,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,019,141. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $196.80 and a 1-year 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 business's 50-day simple moving average is $217.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $238.50. The stock has a market cap of $152.21 billion, a PE ratio of 40.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 a positive change from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher's payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on DHR shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut Danaher from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $265.00 price target for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $278.24.

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.