Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Bought by Treasurer of the State of North Carolina

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 338,636 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,038 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in Danaher were worth $77,734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,130,740,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $391,172,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 6,862.7% during the 4th 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 during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in Danaher by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,105,388 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $712,842,000 after purchasing an additional 749,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 29,287.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 588,929 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $135,189,000 after buying an additional 586,925 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related 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 owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DHR shares. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Guggenheim assumed coverage on Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.24.

Danaher Trading Up 10.0 %

NYSE:DHR opened at $192.18 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $137.35 billion, a PE ratio of 36.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50 day moving average is $204.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $231.11. 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 $171.00 and a 52 week high of $281.70.

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

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Danaher 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.