FORA Capital LLC Invests $1.86 Million in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,097 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $1,859,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Danaher Trading Down 2.8%

DHR stock traded down $5.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $189.42. 4,535,806 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,411,207. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $198.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $219.00. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders 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 (DPR) is presently 24.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on DHR shares. Raymond James reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays lifted 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $264.40.

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.