National Pension Service Purchases 22,300 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,119,227 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 22,300 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Danaher were worth $258,922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Danaher by 18.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,930,281 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,185,203,000 after purchasing an additional 3,905,449 shares during the last quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 1,440.7% during the 3rd quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC now owns 1,100,399 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $273,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,028,976 shares during the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the third quarter valued at approximately $178,850,000. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $161,994,000. Finally, Harris Associates L P increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 27.7% in the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 2,963,899 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $735,343,000 after purchasing an additional 642,759 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on DHR shares. StockNews.com lowered Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Danaher from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Danaher from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $267.31.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE:DHR traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $249.79. The stock had a trading volume of 511,514 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,705,143. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.85. The stock has a market cap of $185.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $182.09 and a 12-month high of $259.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $248.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $233.19.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. Danaher had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 11.43%. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.62 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.36 EPS. Danaher’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Alan G. Spoon sold 708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total value of $172,454.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 116,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,304,483.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total value of $636,280.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,244 shares in the company, valued at $1,029,891.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alan G. Spoon sold 708 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total transaction of $172,454.64. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 116,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,304,483.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 103,984 shares of company stock valued at $25,997,094 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 10.90% 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.