Elefante Mark B Takes Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Elefante Mark B acquired a new position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 14,933 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $3,428,000. Danaher makes up about 3.1% of Elefante Mark B's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DHR. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its holdings in Danaher by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,749 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. lifted its stake in Danaher by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 7,390 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,696,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA lifted its stake in Danaher by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Spinnaker Trust grew its stake in Danaher by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 4,304 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $988,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,983 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $914,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on DHR. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $264.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Trading Down 2.8%

Shares of DHR stock traded down $5.40 on Friday, reaching $189.42. 4,535,806 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,411,207. The stock has a market cap of $135.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $198.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $219.00. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $171.00 and a 1-year high of $281.70.

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

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.