36,558 Shares in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Acquired by Allianz SE

Allianz SE purchased a new stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 36,558 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $8,396,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Danaher by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 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 that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 2.1 %

NYSE:DHR opened at $205.69 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $196.80 and a twelve month high of $281.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $214.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $236.90.

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

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.24.

Danaher Profile

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.