Handelsbanken Fonder AB Boosts Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 308,703 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 7,878 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Danaher were worth $70,863,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of DHR. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new position in Danaher in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,923,000. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc. increased its stake in Danaher by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 523 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,803 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $5,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,527 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on DHR. Scotiabank began coverage on Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $265.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Danaher has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $278.00.

Danaher Stock Up 0.9 %

Danaher stock traded up $1.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $209.86. The company had a trading volume of 6,209,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,574,762. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $227.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $247.52. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $196.80 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The company has a market capitalization of $151.58 billion, a PE ratio of 39.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is an increase from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 directly owns 20,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

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.