526,691 Shares in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Purchased by Fisher Funds Management LTD

Fisher Funds Management LTD purchased a new position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 526,691 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $120,718,000. Danaher comprises 2.9% of Fisher Funds Management LTD’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on DHR. Guggenheim started coverage on Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 price target on Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup dropped their target price 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $209.86 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $151.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $226.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $246.96. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $196.80 and a one year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 quarter last year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.32 dividend. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 20.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.