Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Purchased by Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,876 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 615 shares during the quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $2,497,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its position in Danaher by 15.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,566,116,000 after purchasing an additional 3,217,631 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at about $391,172,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Danaher by 6,862.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $213,452,000 after purchasing an additional 916,513 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Danaher by 29,287.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 588,929 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $135,189,000 after purchasing an additional 586,925 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position 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 valued at $996,141,000 after purchasing an additional 535,254 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $212.35 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 has a 50 day moving average of $222.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $242.82. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $196.80 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The company has a market cap of $151.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.22, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DHR. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.10% 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.