Avanza Fonder AB Invests $10.99 Million in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 47,876 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $10,990,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Danaher during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the third quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR stock opened at $241.28 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $235.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $253.45. The company has a market cap of $174.27 billion, a PE ratio of 46.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $222.53 and a 12-month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 16.39% and a return on equity of 10.62%. Danaher’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.49 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DHR. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Danaher from $278.00 to $277.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $278.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Danaher from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $286.80.

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.