Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Purchased by Treasurer of the State of North Carolina

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 338,636 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 3,038 shares during the quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina's holdings in Danaher were worth $77,734,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Danaher by 6.7% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,318 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $4,512,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 17,946 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $4,989,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 19.3% in the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,563 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $434,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the third quarter valued at approximately $314,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DHR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank began coverage on Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $265.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $276.57.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of 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 represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

DHR traded down $3.55 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $189.42. 1,436,115 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,314,802. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $203.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $229.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.88, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $171.00 and a 1-year high of $281.70. 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 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 net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This is a boost from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher's payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Danaher Company 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.