Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Bought by HighPoint Advisor Group LLC

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 22.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,205 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 2,790 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $3,201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DHR. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,130,740,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $391,172,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew 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 during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in 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 period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Danaher by 29,287.7% in 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 during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on DHR. Raymond James reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $277.00 price objective (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Danaher from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim assumed coverage on Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $278.24.

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Danaher Trading Down 8.3 %

Shares of DHR stock traded down $16.49 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $181.42. 7,117,117 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,229,595. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $209.99 and a 200 day moving average of $233.99. 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 1 year low of $181.20 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The firm has a market cap of $129.66 billion, a PE ratio of 34.36, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share 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 last year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. Analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.71%. This is a positive change from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company 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.