Guinness Asset Management LTD Buys 31,431 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 23.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 163,336 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 31,431 shares during the quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD's holdings in Danaher were worth $37,493,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,231 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Certified Advisory Corp increased its position in shares of Danaher by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 926 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 957 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its position in 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 buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Well Done LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 1.2% in the third quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 3,551 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $987,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Danaher Trading Down 1.4 %

Danaher stock traded down $3.49 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $238.41. The company had a trading volume of 3,044,734 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,640,177. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $222.53 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $234.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $253.51. The firm has a market cap of $172.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.50, a P/E/G ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 16.39%. The business's revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DHR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Danaher from $309.00 to $305.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Scotiabank began coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $265.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $278.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $286.80.

About Danaher

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.