Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Acquires 694 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,694 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 694 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $3,603,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Down 2.1 %

DHR stock opened at $205.69 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $196.80 and a twelve month high of $281.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.01 billion, a PE ratio of 38.96, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $214.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $236.64.

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 net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on DHR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 11.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.