Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Stake Increased by Bourgeon Capital Management LLC

Bourgeon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 55,683 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 3,289 shares during the quarter. Danaher accounts for about 2.8% of Bourgeon Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $12,882,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DHR. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Danaher by 96,490.5% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,287,013 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $6,180,839,000 after buying an additional 23,262,904 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,057,164,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Danaher by 18.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,930,281 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $6,185,203,000 after purchasing an additional 3,905,449 shares in the last quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1,440.7% in the third quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC now owns 1,100,399 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $273,009,000 after buying an additional 1,028,976 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the third quarter valued at $178,850,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on DHR shares. KeyCorp upped their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 18th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Danaher from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $267.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total transaction of $636,280.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,029,891.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total value of $5,986,764.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,102 shares in the company, valued at $9,601,704. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total transaction of $636,280.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,029,891.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 32,957 shares of company stock valued at $8,265,802. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Danaher Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE DHR traded down $0.29 on Monday, hitting $239.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,695,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,695,242. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $182.09 and a 1-year high of $259.00. The company's 50-day moving average is $249.71 and its 200 day moving average is $229.90. The firm has a market cap of $177.48 billion, a PE ratio of 37.60, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.18. Danaher had a net margin of 17.26% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The company had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.87 earnings per share. Danaher's revenue for the quarter was down 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. This is a positive change from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.90%.

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.