Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Has $24.20 Million Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 105,413 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,553 shares during the quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $24,198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,559,000. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in Danaher by 127.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 497,109 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $114,140,000 after buying an additional 278,975 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,623,873 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $372,760,000 after buying an additional 99,239 shares during the last quarter. Elgethun Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Elgethun Capital Management now owns 2,517 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $578,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Whale Capital LLP increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Blue Whale Capital LLP now owns 329,746 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $75,693,000 after buying an additional 70,280 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 0.6 %

Danaher stock opened at $180.71 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. The company has a market capitalization of $129.15 billion, a PE ratio of 34.22, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $208.60 and its 200 day moving average is $233.05. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $171.92 and a 12-month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on DHR shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.24.

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.