Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. Takes Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. acquired a new position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,100 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $712,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher by 15.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,566,116,000 after acquiring an additional 3,217,631 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Danaher by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,589,019 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,971,609,000 after buying an additional 441,012 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 3.0% during 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 valued at $1,417,342,000 after buying an additional 148,251 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,578,945 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,051,097,000 after acquiring an additional 26,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,066,755 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $933,524,000 after purchasing an additional 135,047 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions 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 directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR stock opened at $212.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $222.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $242.82. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $196.80 and a one year high of $281.70. The company has a market capitalization of $151.77 billion, a PE ratio of 40.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company 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 is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird cut 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. 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

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.