Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Acquired by Aljian Capital Management LLC

Aljian Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 31.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,080 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $707,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Danaher during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed 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. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

Danaher Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $202.22 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $230.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $250.28. The stock has a market cap of $146.06 billion, a PE ratio of 38.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. 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 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.45%.

About Danaher

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.