Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. Increases Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 39.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 553,562 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 157,538 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises 1.3% of Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V.'s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. owned 0.08% of Danaher worth $127,070,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA lifted its holdings in Danaher by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spinnaker Trust grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 4,304 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $988,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of DHR traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $197.37. 2,608,666 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,536,802. The stock's 50-day moving average is $201.01 and its 200-day moving average is $225.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $171.00 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The company has a market cap of $141.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.58 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on DHR shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $264.40.

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.