Rafferty Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 72,904 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 7,711 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $16,735,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,130,740,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth approximately $391,172,000. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 32.7% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 460.6% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,348,544 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $309,558,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107,998 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 14.3% in 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. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price 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. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $264.40.

Danaher Stock Up 0.1%

Danaher stock traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $196.33. The company had a trading volume of 2,724,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,451,187. 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $196.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $217.27. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $171.00 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The company has a market capitalization of $140.51 billion, a PE ratio of 37.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.85%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total transaction of $245,925,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 3,105,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Danaher Company 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.