Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,171 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 490 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $3,481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA now owns 1,300 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. now owns 31,889 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $7,320,000 after buying an additional 2,230 shares during the last quarter. Bradyco Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $299,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 181.5% in the fourth quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 30,863 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $7,085,000 after buying an additional 19,898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BBR Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 54.6% in the fourth quarter. BBR Partners LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 price target (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Danaher currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE:DHR opened at $212.35 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $196.80 and a one year 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. The stock has a market cap of $151.77 billion, a PE ratio of 40.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $222.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $243.02.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.