Robeco Schweiz AG Purchases 13,304 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Robeco Schweiz AG boosted its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 259,545 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,304 shares during the period. Robeco Schweiz AG’s holdings in Danaher were worth $59,579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on DHR shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price objective (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

Danaher Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of DHR stock opened at $209.27 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $149.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $225.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $245.78. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $196.80 and a 12-month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 previous year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.