Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. Purchases New Shares in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,165 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $270,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DHR. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Danaher by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,930,281 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,185,203,000 after acquiring an additional 3,905,449 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Danaher by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,100,722 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,009,789,000 after buying an additional 134,905 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch AG grew its holdings in Danaher by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 4,601,351 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,064,477,000 after acquiring an additional 82,672 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,227,108 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $977,900,000 after acquiring an additional 248,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 13.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,070,455 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,009,880,000 after purchasing an additional 473,693 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.22, for a total value of $11,756,953.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,908,273.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.22, for a total value of $11,756,953.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,908,273.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total value of $636,280.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,244 shares in the company, valued at $1,029,891.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 103,984 shares of company stock valued at $25,997,094 over the last three months. 10.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on Danaher from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays upped their target price on Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. HSBC raised shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $267.31.

Danaher Stock Performance

DHR stock traded up $1.45 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $248.85. The company had a trading volume of 1,683,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,744,101. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $182.09 and a 12 month high of $259.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $248.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.19. The firm has a market cap of $184.32 billion, a PE ratio of 42.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.85.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 16.78%. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.36 earnings per share. Danaher’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.31%.

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.