Soros Fund Management LLC Acquires New Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 130,472 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $29,950,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its holdings in Danaher by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $4,874,000 after buying an additional 2,202 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 1,212.8% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 2,559 shares during the last quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth about $8,044,000. Compass Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Danaher by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Compass Capital Management Inc. now owns 237,922 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $54,615,000 after acquiring an additional 10,994 shares during the period. Finally, Channing Global Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. Channing Global Advisors LLC now owns 5,666 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,301,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DHR. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group cut their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays increased their price objective on Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $264.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE:DHR traded up $2.44 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $199.15. 3,159,138 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,367,010. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $142.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $171.00 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $199.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $222.10.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. Sell-side analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 28th. This is an increase from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher's payout ratio is presently 24.85%.

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.