Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Acquired by CWA Asset Management Group LLC

CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR – Get Rating) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,076 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 222 shares during the quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $817,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Bishop Rock Capital L.P. boosted its holdings in Danaher by 13,959.3% in the second quarter. Bishop Rock Capital L.P. now owns 3,955,166 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $15,601,000 after purchasing an additional 3,927,034 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Danaher by 515.0% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,348,688 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $606,643,000 after purchasing an additional 1,966,793 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Danaher by 1.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,690,131 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $13,867,623,000 after purchasing an additional 995,501 shares in the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher by 23,726.6% in the second quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 791,996 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,124,000 after purchasing an additional 788,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in Danaher by 70.1% in the second quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,376,545 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $348,982,000 after purchasing an additional 567,259 shares in the last quarter. 77.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their price target on Danaher from $277.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 24th. Cowen reduced their price objective on Danaher from $340.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Danaher in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Danaher from $321.00 to $309.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Danaher in a research note on Tuesday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $310.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.29.

Danaher Price Performance

Danaher stock opened at $242.96 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $233.71 and a 12 month high of $303.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $258.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $262.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $177.02 billion, a PE ratio of 25.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.80.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 24th. The conglomerate reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.41. Danaher had a return on equity of 17.97% and a net margin of 22.91%. The business had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.69 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 31st will be given a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 30th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Danaher news, Director Raymond C. Stevens sold 8,410 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.27, for a total value of $2,222,510.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at $2,218,282.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Danaher

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Danaher Corp. engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of professional, medical, industrial, and commercial products and services. It operates through the following segments: Biotechnology, Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental and Applied Solutions. The Biotechnology segment includes the bioprocessing and discovery and medical businesses and offers a range of tools, consumables, and services.