Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Takes $10.88 Million Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 47,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $10,875,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,566,116,000 after buying an additional 3,217,631 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $391,172,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Danaher by 6,862.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $213,452,000 after purchasing an additional 916,513 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in Danaher by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,105,388 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $712,842,000 after purchasing an additional 749,136 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Danaher by 29,287.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 588,929 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $135,189,000 after purchasing an additional 586,925 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $212.78 on Tuesday. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $196.80 and a twelve month high of $281.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $219.57 and a 200 day moving average of $240.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.30, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 last year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on DHR. Citigroup dropped their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim assumed coverage on Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.76.

Danaher Company 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.