Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Acquired by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. raised its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 44.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,333 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,402 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $12,931,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its holdings in Danaher by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,874,000 after acquiring an additional 2,202 shares during the period. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 9,597 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,639 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1,212.8% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $636,000 after acquiring an additional 2,559 shares during the period. Generate Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $8,044,000. Finally, Compass Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Danaher by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Compass Capital Management Inc. now owns 237,922 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $54,615,000 after purchasing an additional 10,994 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on DHR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $264.40.

Insider Activity

In other Danaher news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Stock Up 0.9 %

DHR stock opened at $194.86 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $198.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $219.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $139.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

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.