Vega Investment Solutions Acquires New Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 10,112 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $2,321,000. Danaher comprises about 1.9% of Vega Investment Solutions' portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR stock opened at $187.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $134.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.51, 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 12-month low of $171.00 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $195.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $216.16.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. On average, analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 0.68%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $263.24.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total transaction of $245,925,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DHR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.