Flossbach Von Storch SE Acquires 44,490 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Flossbach Von Storch SE boosted its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,710,738 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 44,490 shares during the period. Danaher comprises 3.4% of Flossbach Von Storch SE's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Flossbach Von Storch SE owned about 0.51% of Danaher worth $851,800,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 3.4% during the third quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,243 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its stake in Danaher by 2.5% during the 4th 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. lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 7,390 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,696,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 3.0% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,531 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $426,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA raised its position in Danaher by 16.4% during the fourth 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 period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR traded up $1.91 during trading on Friday, reaching $209.86. The stock had a trading volume of 6,209,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,574,762. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $227.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $247.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $196.80 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is a boost from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher's payout ratio is currently 20.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on DHR. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $277.00 price objective (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Danaher from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $290.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $278.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value 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 represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

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.