Entropy Technologies LP Buys 30,464 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Entropy Technologies LP increased its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 126.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 54,567 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,464 shares during the quarter. Danaher makes up about 1.3% of Entropy Technologies LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in Danaher were worth $12,526,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its position 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 in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 3.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,097,986 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,417,342,000 after acquiring an additional 148,251 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 2.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,552,640 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,265,725,000 after acquiring an additional 116,299 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 17.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 535,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,715,826 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $382,936,000 after acquiring an additional 9,942 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. 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. Wolfe Research raised Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Danaher from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR stock opened at $206.92 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $205.79 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $232.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $251.79. The firm has a market cap of $149.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.19, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly 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 firm posted $2.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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.