Strategic Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 168.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,317 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 5,845 shares during the quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $2,139,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 15.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $6,566,116,000 after buying an additional 3,217,631 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 3.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,097,986 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,417,342,000 after purchasing an additional 148,251 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 2.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,552,640 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,265,725,000 after purchasing an additional 116,299 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 17.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,582,982 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $996,141,000 after purchasing an additional 535,254 shares during the period. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,715,826 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $382,936,000 after purchasing an additional 9,942 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Performance

DHR traded down $0.66 on Wednesday, reaching $203.87. The stock had a trading volume of 2,719,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,455,794. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $196.80 and a 12-month 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. The business's 50-day moving average price is $228.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $248.10. The company has a market cap of $147.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.45%.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 20,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 10.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on DHR shares. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $277.00 target price (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Danaher from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $278.00.

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.