Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 36,815 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 597,780 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 36,815 shares during the period. Danaher comprises about 1.3% of Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. owned about 0.08% of Danaher worth $137,220,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $277.00 target price (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased 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. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $278.00.

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Danaher Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of Danaher stock traded down $7.05 during trading on Monday, reaching $205.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,709,379 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,995,134. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The company has a market cap of $146.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.83, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The firm's 50-day moving average is $222.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $242.18. 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 (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates 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 previous year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. This is a boost from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction 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 represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.