FIL Ltd Increases Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,623,873 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 99,239 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd owned approximately 0.22% of Danaher worth $372,760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,130,740,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $391,172,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 6,862.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $213,452,000 after buying an additional 916,513 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,105,388 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $712,842,000 after acquiring an additional 749,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 29,287.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 588,929 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $135,189,000 after acquiring an additional 586,925 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

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 dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Danaher Stock Up 4.4 %

NYSE:DHR traded up $7.99 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $188.75. The company had a trading volume of 4,764,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,319,341. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $171.00 and a twelve month 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 firm has a market cap of $134.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $203.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $229.58.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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 period last year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, equities 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. This is an increase from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on DHR. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Raymond James reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $276.57.

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.