Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC Acquires 359 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 43.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,186 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $272,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,566,116,000 after acquiring an additional 3,217,631 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Danaher by 6,862.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $213,452,000 after purchasing an additional 916,513 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 29,287.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 588,929 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $135,189,000 after purchasing an additional 586,925 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings 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 worth $996,141,000 after purchasing 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 about $120,718,000. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE:DHR opened at $207.73 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $224.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $245.09. The firm has a market cap of $148.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.34, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83. 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 one year low of $196.80 and a one year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. Research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s payout ratio is 24.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DHR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim began coverage on Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price target on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

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.