Zeno Equity Partners LLP Boosts Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Zeno Equity Partners LLP grew its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 173,865 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,566 shares during the quarter. Danaher makes up approximately 12.0% of Zeno Equity Partners LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Zeno Equity Partners LLP’s holdings in Danaher were worth $39,946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 4.1% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,941,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Danaher during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher by 0.7% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 112,444 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $31,263,000 after acquiring an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 0.8% in the third quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 8,258 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,296,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DHR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Guggenheim started coverage on Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.76.

Danaher Stock Performance

DHR opened at $212.71 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $152.03 billion, a PE ratio of 40.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $219.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $239.67. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $196.80 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share 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 previous year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.24%.

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.