Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC Buys 909 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 76,493 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the quarter. Danaher accounts for about 1.3% of Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $17,556,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 3,217,631 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $391,172,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Danaher by 6,862.7% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $213,452,000 after buying an additional 916,513 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,105,388 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $712,842,000 after buying an additional 749,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Danaher by 29,287.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 588,929 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $135,189,000 after acquiring an additional 586,925 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price objective (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 price target on Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.76.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $211.09 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $220.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $240.63. The stock has a market cap of $150.87 billion, a PE ratio of 39.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $196.80 and a 12 month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter last year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

About Danaher

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.