Apella Capital LLC Raises Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Apella Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR – Get Rating) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,097 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. Bishop Rock Capital L.P. lifted its holdings in Danaher by 13,959.3% in the second quarter. Bishop Rock Capital L.P. now owns 3,955,166 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $15,601,000 after acquiring an additional 3,927,034 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Danaher by 515.0% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,348,688 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $606,643,000 after acquiring an additional 1,966,793 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Danaher by 1.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,690,131 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $13,867,623,000 after acquiring an additional 995,501 shares during the period. Castleview Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 23,726.6% during the 2nd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 791,996 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,124,000 after buying an additional 788,672 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 70.1% during the 2nd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,376,545 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $348,982,000 after buying an additional 567,259 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, Director Raymond C. Stevens sold 8,410 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.27, for a total transaction of $2,222,510.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,282.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 11.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on Danaher from $277.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 24th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Danaher in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Danaher from $321.00 to $309.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. Cowen reduced their target price on Danaher from $340.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group downgraded Danaher from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $315.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.29.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $242.96 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $177.02 billion, a PE ratio of 25.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $233.71 and a twelve month high of $303.82. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $258.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $262.40.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 24th. The conglomerate reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.90 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 17.97% and a net margin of 22.91%. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.69 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 30th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.36%.

About Danaher

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Danaher Corp. engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of professional, medical, industrial, and commercial products and services. It operates through the following segments: Biotechnology, Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental and Applied Solutions. The Biotechnology segment includes the bioprocessing and discovery and medical businesses and offers a range of tools, consumables, and services.