First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Raises Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 42,796 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 741 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises 2.0% of First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $9,824,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Danaher by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,582,982 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $996,141,000 after purchasing an additional 535,254 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Danaher by 40,196.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 429,964 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $119,539,000 after purchasing an additional 428,897 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its position in Danaher by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,705,884 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $465,617,000 after purchasing an additional 397,671 shares during the period. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $74,551,000. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE:DHR opened at $203.42 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $146.92 billion, a PE ratio of 38.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $203.00 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $232.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $251.61. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 previous year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s payout ratio is 20.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.00.

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.