Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Acquired by North Star Asset Management Inc.

North Star Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 109,465 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 3,896 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises about 1.1% of North Star Asset Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. North Star Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $25,128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,680,000. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $1,682,000. Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $2,321,000. Vise Technologies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 110.9% in the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 6,671 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,531,000 after acquiring an additional 3,508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connecticut Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,669 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $2,679,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were 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 directly owns 3,105,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Trading Up 2.4%

DHR stock traded up $4.48 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $189.02. The company had a trading volume of 2,990,603 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,473,399. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.80, a PEG 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. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $171.00 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $194.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $214.85.

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

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors 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 yield of 0.68%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DHR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Danaher from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $263.24.

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.