Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Increases Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 11.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,233 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 2,202 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Danaher were worth $4,874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the third quarter valued at $40,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on DHR shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target 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. Citigroup cut their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim started coverage on Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank started 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Danaher has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $278.00.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DHR traded up $1.91 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $209.86. 6,209,935 shares of the company were exchanged, 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. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $196.80 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $226.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $247.11. The stock has a market cap of $151.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.75, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. This is a positive change from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher's payout ratio is currently 20.45%.

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.