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

Ethic Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 44.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,333 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,402 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $12,931,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. First Hawaiian Bank boosted its holdings in Danaher by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 5,220 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,198,000 after buying an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 47,003 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $10,790,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 2,559 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 199,493 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $45,794,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the period. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Danaher by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 3,558 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $817,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE DHR opened at $194.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $139.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.90, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $171.00 and a one year high of $281.70. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $198.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.95.

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

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on DHR shares. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $264.40.

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.