15,931 Shares in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Bought by Generali Investments Management Co LLC

Generali Investments Management Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 15,931 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $3,657,000. Danaher accounts for 0.9% of Generali Investments Management Co LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 63.3% in the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price target (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Danaher currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.76.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $212.71 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $152.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.29, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $219.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $239.67. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $196.80 and a 52 week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

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

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.