Banco Santander S.A. Increases Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Banco Santander S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 56.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,757 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 3,151 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $2,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its holdings in Danaher by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,749 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in Danaher by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 7,390 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,696,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in Danaher by 3.0% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,531 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $426,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA raised its position in Danaher by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of DHR stock opened at $212.35 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $151.77 billion, a PE ratio of 40.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50-day moving average of $222.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $242.62. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $196.80 and a 1-year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.24%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 target price (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

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.