Sustainable Growth Advisers LP Has $741.91 Million Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Sustainable Growth Advisers LP lifted its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,232,010 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 272,323 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises 3.7% of Sustainable Growth Advisers LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP owned about 0.45% of Danaher worth $741,908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 63.3% during the 4th 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 institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:DHR opened at $205.24 on Thursday. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $196.80 and a twelve month high of $281.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $221.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $241.48. The company has a market cap of $146.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America upgraded 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. Citigroup decreased their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.00.

Danaher 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.