Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 234,187 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 3,305 shares during the period. Danaher makes up 2.7% of Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $53,818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,217,631 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Danaher by 6,862.7% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $213,452,000 after acquiring an additional 916,513 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher by 29,287.7% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 588,929 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $135,189,000 after acquiring an additional 586,925 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Danaher by 17.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 535,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Funds Management LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $120,718,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
DHR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America raised shares of Danaher from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $290.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $265.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $278.00.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Danaher
Danaher Stock Performance
Shares of DHR traded up $1.33 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $207.24. 569,167 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,476,990. The business's 50 day moving average price is $223.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $243.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.12 billion, a PE ratio of 39.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. 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 1-year low of $196.80 and a 1-year high of $281.70.
Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (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 last year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Danaher Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be given 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 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.24%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher
In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
About Danaher
(
Free Report)
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.
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