Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Acquires 24,888 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,306,654 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 24,888 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned 0.18% of Danaher worth $299,942,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,005,442. The trade was a 51.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

DHR stock traded down $5.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $189.42. 4,535,806 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,411,207. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $198.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $219.00. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.56 billion, a PE ratio of 35.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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. As a group, equities 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, April 7th. Raymond James reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report 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 presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $264.40.

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.