O Brien Greene & Co. Inc Increases Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

O Brien Greene & Co. Inc increased its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,209 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises about 2.7% of O Brien Greene & Co. Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc’s holdings in Danaher were worth $8,312,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 15.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,566,116,000 after purchasing an additional 3,217,631 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Danaher by 3.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,097,986 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,417,342,000 after buying an additional 148,251 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher by 2.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,552,640 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,265,725,000 after acquiring an additional 116,299 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 17.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,582,982 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $996,141,000 after acquiring an additional 535,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,715,826 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $382,936,000 after acquiring an additional 9,942 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, 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 this hyperlink. 10.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR opened at $205.23 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $227.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $247.80. 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 stock has a market cap of $148.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.87, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its 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 posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DHR. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Bank of America raised Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently 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.