Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Acquired by Ceredex Value Advisors LLC

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 29.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 223,073 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 51,150 shares during the period. Danaher accounts for approximately 1.0% of Ceredex Value Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $51,206,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Danaher by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $13,715,641,000 after purchasing an additional 315,912 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,056,996,000 after buying an additional 315,446 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Danaher by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,589,019 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,971,609,000 after acquiring an additional 441,012 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Danaher by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,578,945 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,051,097,000 after acquiring an additional 26,305 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Danaher stock opened at $189.92 on Wednesday. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $171.00 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $202.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $228.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $135.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on DHR shares. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $276.57.

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.