Vident Advisory LLC Raises Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Vident Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 186.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,986 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 40,996 shares during the quarter. Vident Advisory LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $14,459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $4,874,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares in the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 20.6% in the 4th quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 9,597 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,639 shares in the last quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $8,044,000. Compass Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Compass Capital Management Inc. now owns 237,922 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $54,615,000 after purchasing an additional 10,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Channing Global Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. Channing Global Advisors LLC now owns 5,666 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,301,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DHR shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $263.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Danaher news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of Danaher 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. The trade was a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR traded up $0.66 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $187.47. The stock had a trading volume of 3,097,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,470,141. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $196.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $216.57. The company has a market capitalization of $134.17 billion, a PE ratio of 35.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 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 firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.58 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given 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 payout ratio is currently 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.