Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Buys 18,500 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 27.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 85,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,500 shares during the quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Danaher were worth $19,627,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Hemenway Trust Co LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Hemenway Trust Co LLC now owns 161,183 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $37,000,000 after purchasing an additional 4,804 shares during the last quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,343 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 5,217 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,198,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oarsman Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of Danaher by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 1,398 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on DHR shares. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim started coverage on Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.24.

Danaher Stock Down 8.3 %

NYSE:DHR opened at $181.42 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $129.66 billion, a PE ratio of 34.36, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $209.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $234.26. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $181.20 and a 52-week high of $281.70.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend 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.