41,824 Shares in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Acquired by Headlands Technologies LLC

Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 41,824 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $9,601,000. Danaher accounts for 1.0% of Headlands Technologies LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $2,130,740,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $391,172,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Danaher by 6,862.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $213,452,000 after acquiring an additional 916,513 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in Danaher by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,105,388 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $712,842,000 after purchasing an additional 749,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Danaher by 29,287.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 588,929 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $135,189,000 after purchasing an additional 586,925 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.24.

Insider Activity

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $205.01 on Tuesday. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $196.80 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $213.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $235.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its 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 net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. 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 (DPR) is currently 24.24%.

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.