Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Purchased by Channing Global Advisors LLC

Channing Global Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 42.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,666 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 1,698 shares during the period. Danaher comprises 0.9% of Channing Global Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Channing Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Danaher in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on DHR shares. Citigroup cut their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. UBS Group cut their target price on Danaher from $309.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 target price (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $201.15 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $199.75 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The company has a market capitalization of $145.29 billion, a PE ratio of 38.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a fifty day moving average of $231.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $250.62.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.45%.

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.