KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys New Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 223,551 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $51,367,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,749 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. boosted its position in Danaher by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 7,390 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,696,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher by 4.1% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spinnaker Trust increased its position in Danaher by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 4,304 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $988,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DHR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $277.00 price objective (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Scotiabank started coverage on Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $265.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $278.24.

Danaher Trading Down 1.1 %

DHR traded down $2.25 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $210.15. 2,669,221 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,016,049. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $215.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $237.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.19 billion, a PE ratio of 39.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $196.80 and a one year high of $281.70. 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 (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This is a positive change 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%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher's payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, 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 is accessible through this link. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.