Point72 Asset Management L.P. Increases Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 460.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,348,544 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 1,107,998 shares during the period. Danaher accounts for 0.7% of Point72 Asset Management L.P.'s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Point72 Asset Management L.P. owned about 0.19% of Danaher worth $309,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its position in Danaher by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $264.40.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR traded up $5.08 on Friday, reaching $196.03. 3,868,501 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,454,106. 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 firm has a market cap of $140.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50-day moving average of $196.87 and a 200-day moving average of $217.47.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.58 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors 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 yield of 0.65%. Danaher's payout ratio is 24.85%.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher 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 value of $245,925,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The transaction 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 company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.