Somerville Kurt F Has $17.74 Million Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Somerville Kurt F lowered its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 77,277 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 240 shares during the period. Danaher accounts for about 3.0% of Somerville Kurt F’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Somerville Kurt F’s holdings in Danaher were worth $17,739,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its holdings in Danaher by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,874,000 after acquiring an additional 2,202 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in Danaher by 1,212.8% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 2,559 shares during the last quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $8,044,000. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in Danaher by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 847,348 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $235,583,000 after buying an additional 11,216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compass Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Compass Capital Management Inc. now owns 237,922 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $54,615,000 after buying an additional 10,994 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on DHR. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price for the company. Barclays reduced their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.24.

Insider Activity

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 stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Stock Down 3.6 %

NYSE:DHR opened at $197.75 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $211.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $234.92. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $193.74 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The company has a market cap of $141.33 billion, a PE ratio of 37.45, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted 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 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 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

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.