13,832 Shares in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Acquired by OFI Invest Asset Management

OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 13,832 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $3,066,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. FMR LLC boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 3,217,631 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $391,172,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings 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 worth $213,452,000 after purchasing an additional 916,513 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 29,287.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 588,929 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $135,189,000 after purchasing an additional 586,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Danaher by 17.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,582,982 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $996,141,000 after purchasing an additional 535,254 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $212.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $151.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $222.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $242.82. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $196.80 and a fifty-two week 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.

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

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DHR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank started coverage on Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.