World Equity Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

World Equity Group Inc. increased its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,726 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 15.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,566,116,000 after acquiring an additional 3,217,631 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake 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 valued at $213,452,000 after buying an additional 916,513 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 17.6% during 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 buying an additional 535,254 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Funds Management LTD bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $120,718,000. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 30.4% during the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,705,884 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $465,617,000 after buying an additional 397,671 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the 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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Up 0.9 %

Danaher stock opened at $209.86 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $226.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $246.84. 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 $151.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $196.80 and a twelve month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on DHR shares. Citigroup cut their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 target price on Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Wolfe Research raised Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price target for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

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.