US Asset Management LLC Takes $1.29 Million Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

US Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,553 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $1,285,000. Danaher accounts for 1.3% of US Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 170,217 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $39,482,000 after buying an additional 4,168 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its stake in Danaher by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 15,535 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,854,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Gratus Capital LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Gratus Capital LLC now owns 1,271 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Danaher by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,227,376 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $304,512,000 after purchasing an additional 21,055 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in Danaher by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 118,540 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $29,409,000 after purchasing an additional 2,890 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE DHR traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $251.96. 707,418 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,695,134. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $182.09 and a one year high of $259.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $248.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $233.43. The stock has a market cap of $186.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.20. Danaher had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 11.43%. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.36 earnings per share. Danaher’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC raised shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $267.31.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total transaction of $636,280.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,029,891.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Walter G. Lohr sold 3,289 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $826,032.35. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,548,498.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total transaction of $636,280.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,029,891.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 103,984 shares of company stock valued at $25,997,094 in the last 90 days. 10.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.