Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) is Consulta Ltd's 7th Largest Position

Consulta Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 20.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 600,000 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares during the quarter. Danaher makes up approximately 9.0% of Consulta Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Consulta Ltd owned 0.08% of Danaher worth $137,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its holdings in Danaher by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $4,874,000 after buying an additional 2,202 shares during the period. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 20.6% in the fourth quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 9,597 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,639 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher by 1,212.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at $8,044,000. Finally, Compass Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Danaher by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Compass Capital Management Inc. now owns 237,922 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $54,615,000 after purchasing an additional 10,994 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the firm's 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 of the company's stock, valued at $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Danaher Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of Danaher stock traded down $5.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $189.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,535,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,403,645. The company has a market cap of $135.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.88, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. The firm's 50-day moving average is $198.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $219.46. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $171.00 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.58 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is 24.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $264.40.

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.