Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Buys 2,347 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,422 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,347 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Danaher were worth $8,820,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,566,116,000 after buying an additional 3,217,631 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Danaher by 3.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,097,986 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,417,342,000 after purchasing an additional 148,251 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Danaher by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,552,640 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,265,725,000 after purchasing an additional 116,299 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,582,982 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $996,141,000 after purchasing an additional 535,254 shares during the period. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,715,826 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $382,936,000 after buying an additional 9,942 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Down 1.5 %

DHR opened at $206.92 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $233.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $252.10. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $205.79 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The stock has a market cap of $149.45 billion, a PE ratio of 39.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 20.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup lowered their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

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.