Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Purchased by Elgethun Capital Management

Elgethun Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,517 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Elgethun Capital Management’s holdings in Danaher were worth $578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DHR. Blue Whale Capital LLP raised its stake in Danaher by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Blue Whale Capital LLP now owns 329,746 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $75,693,000 after buying an additional 70,280 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC lifted its stake in Danaher by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 319,502 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $73,342,000 after purchasing an additional 7,695 shares during the last quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $918,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $55,161,000. Finally, Trek Financial LLC raised its stake in Danaher by 41.9% during the fourth quarter. Trek Financial LLC now owns 4,321 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $992,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR stock opened at $181.42 on Monday. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $165.17 and a one year high of $281.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $209.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $233.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.66 billion, a PE ratio of 34.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued 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 net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s payout ratio is 24.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on DHR shares. Guggenheim began coverage on Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.24.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 11.10% of the stock is currently 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.