Blueshift Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 1,236 Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,236 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $284,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in Danaher by 17.3% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 16,940 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,713,000 after purchasing an additional 2,499 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 7.4% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 379,341 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $105,464,000 after buying an additional 26,124 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 0.4% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 51,110 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $14,210,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Finally, Lathrop Investment Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 13.8% during the third quarter. Lathrop Investment Management Corp now owns 25,705 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $7,147,000 after buying an additional 3,125 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on DHR. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 price target (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.24.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Danaher stock opened at $211.63 on Friday. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $217.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $238.86. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $196.80 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.26 billion, a PE ratio of 40.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 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 period last year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s payout ratio is 24.24%.

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.