Geode Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 315,446 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $3,056,996,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its position in Danaher by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,749 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc. raised its holdings in Danaher by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 7,390 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,696,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA raised its holdings in Danaher by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 4.1% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $342,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spinnaker Trust raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 4,304 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $988,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on DHR shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays decreased 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’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 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. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 0.4 %

DHR opened at $205.01 on Tuesday. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $196.80 and a one year high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $213.91 and its 200-day moving average is $235.91. The company has a market capitalization of $146.52 billion, a PE ratio of 38.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period last year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.