North Star Asset Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

North Star Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 109,465 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 3,896 shares during the quarter. Danaher accounts for approximately 1.1% of North Star Asset Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. North Star Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $25,128,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its position in Danaher by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total value of $245,925,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 3,105,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $611,036,665.92. The trade was a 28.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on DHR. Barclays upped their target price on Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Raymond James reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Danaher from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. 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 presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $263.24.

Danaher Stock Up 0.5%

DHR traded up $0.96 on Thursday, hitting $189.97. The company had a trading volume of 1,001,640 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,463,774. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $193.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $214.49. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $171.00 and a 52-week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 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 analysts' expectations of $5.58 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Danaher's payout ratio is 24.85%.

Danaher 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.