Danaher Corporation $DHR Shares Bought by National Pension Service

National Pension Service grew its position in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,453,086 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,725 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Danaher were worth $332,640,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DHR. Viking Global Investors LP boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 543.9% during the 2nd quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,907,515 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $574,351,000 after purchasing an additional 2,455,994 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 104.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,333,056 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $991,923,000 after purchasing an additional 2,216,789 shares during the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 34.0% during the 3rd quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 6,654,666 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,319,354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,689,020 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 211.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,088,089 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $414,038,000 after purchasing an additional 1,418,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 33.9% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,519,013 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $697,680,000 after purchasing an additional 891,210 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR opened at $180.47 on Friday. Danaher Corporation has a 1 year low of $160.93 and a 1 year high of $242.80. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.73 billion, a PE ratio of 34.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.81.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The conglomerate reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. Danaher had a net margin of 14.89% and a return on equity of 10.91%. The firm had revenue of $5.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. Danaher’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Danaher Corporation will post 8.43 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Friday, June 26th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 26th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Argus decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $265.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.24.

About Danaher

Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) is a global science and technology company that designs, manufactures and markets products and services for the life sciences, diagnostics, and environmental and applied markets. The company organizes its operations into business segments focused on Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental & Applied Solutions, supplying instruments, reagents, software and related services that support research, clinical testing, biopharmaceutical development, and industrial and environmental monitoring.

Products and services in Danaher’s portfolio include analytical and diagnostic instruments, laboratory consumables and reagents, digital and software solutions for workflow and data management, field and industrial monitoring equipment, and service and maintenance programs.