Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 315,912 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 315,912 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 8.27% of Danaher worth $13,715,641,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 15.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $6,566,116,000 after purchasing an additional 3,217,631 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth $391,172,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Danaher by 6,862.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $213,452,000 after acquiring an additional 916,513 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,105,388 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $712,842,000 after acquiring an additional 749,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 29,287.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 588,929 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $135,189,000 after purchasing an additional 586,925 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on DHR shares. Guggenheim began coverage on Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America raised Danaher from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $290.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $265.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $278.24.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Danaher Stock Down 0.1 %

Danaher stock traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $210.26. The stock had a trading volume of 2,989,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,016,885. The company has a market capitalization of $150.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.82, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $196.80 and a one year high of $281.70. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $215.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $237.37.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is a boost from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. 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.