Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Purchased by Umpqua Bank

Umpqua Bank raised its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,310 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the quarter. Umpqua Bank’s holdings in Danaher were worth $311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC grew its stake in Danaher by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,566,116,000 after purchasing an additional 3,217,631 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Danaher by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,589,019 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,971,609,000 after purchasing an additional 441,012 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Danaher by 3.0% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 148,251 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Danaher by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,578,945 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,051,097,000 after purchasing an additional 26,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Danaher by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,066,755 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $933,524,000 after purchasing an additional 135,047 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

DHR opened at $211.63 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $151.26 billion, a PE ratio of 40.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $217.46 and a 200-day moving average of $238.86. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week 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.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DHR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price target (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Bank of America raised Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This 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. 10.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.