Korea Investment CORP Raises Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Korea Investment CORP grew its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 500,750 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,913 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Danaher were worth $114,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC boosted its position in Danaher by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $210.15 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $215.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $237.56. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Guggenheim began coverage on Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America raised shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.24.

Danaher Company 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.