Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Acquired by Two Sigma Advisers LP

Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 4,248.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,639,500 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 1,601,800 shares during the period. Danaher makes up about 0.9% of Two Sigma Advisers LP's holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned approximately 0.23% of Danaher worth $376,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised 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 buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 7,390 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,696,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Spinnaker Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 4,304 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $988,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,983 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $914,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fayez Sarofim & Co grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 8,287 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,902,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Danaher Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of DHR traded up $0.66 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $187.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,097,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,470,141. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $171.00 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The stock has a market cap of $134.17 billion, a PE ratio of 35.51, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 company's 50 day moving average is $196.07 and its 200 day moving average is $216.57.

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

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $263.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the 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 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. This trade represents a 51.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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 firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 3,105,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 company insiders.

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.