Russell Investments Group Ltd. Reduces Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 953,274 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 16,453 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.13% of Danaher worth $218,830,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DHR. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its stake in Danaher by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $4,874,000 after acquiring an additional 2,202 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 1,212.8% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $636,000 after buying an additional 2,559 shares during the last quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $8,044,000. Compass Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Danaher by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Compass Capital Management Inc. now owns 237,922 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $54,615,000 after buying an additional 10,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Channing Global Advisors LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. Channing Global Advisors LLC now owns 5,666 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,301,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America upgraded Danaher from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $290.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Raymond James restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $277.00 target price (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $265.00 target price on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $276.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Danaher Stock Down 5.3 %

DHR stock traded down $10.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $181.63. 2,749,179 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,288,912. The stock has a market cap of $129.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $171.00 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $204.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $231.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is an increase from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is 24.24%.

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.