Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Acquired by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,589,019 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 441,012 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,971,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value 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 represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DHR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded 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. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 price objective (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

Danaher Stock Up 0.5 %

Danaher stock opened at $211.23 on Tuesday. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $196.80 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $226.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $246.44. 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 (NYSE:DHR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 company posted $2.09 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

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.