Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Has $15.73 Million Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV decreased its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,521 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 7,010 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV's holdings in Danaher were worth $15,729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $2,130,740,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $391,172,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 32.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,361,183 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,460,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566,658 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,934,991 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,821,477,000 after purchasing an additional 992,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Danaher by 6,862.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $213,452,000 after purchasing an additional 916,513 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on DHR shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Danaher currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $264.40.

Danaher Stock Performance

Danaher stock traded up $3.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $193.10. 2,731,586 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,409,678. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $171.00 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. 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 firm has a market cap of $138.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.57, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $199.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $220.68.

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

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.85%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

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.