Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Stock Position Decreased by Value Partners Investments Inc.

Value Partners Investments Inc. lowered its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 21.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,465 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 389 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $336,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Danaher by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $13,715,641,000 after buying an additional 315,912 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,056,996,000 after purchasing an additional 315,446 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Danaher by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,589,019 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,971,609,000 after purchasing an additional 441,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,578,945 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,051,097,000 after purchasing an additional 26,305 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Danaher from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $240.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 price objective (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.57.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $188.75 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $134.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s fifty day moving average is $203.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $229.58. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $171.00 and a 12-month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business 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 represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. 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 is currently 24.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.