Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Holdings Lifted by Defender Capital LLC.

Defender Capital LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 137,951 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,866 shares during the quarter. Danaher makes up 11.6% of Defender Capital LLC.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Defender Capital LLC.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $31,667,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in Danaher by 3.2% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,231 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in Danaher by 4.4% in the third quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 957 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Danaher by 3.4% in the third quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Well Done LLC grew its stake in Danaher by 1.2% in the third quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 3,551 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $987,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Danaher by 0.9% in the third quarter. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,520 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,257,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 10.0 %

NYSE:DHR opened at $223.12 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $236.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $253.66. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $223.00 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $161.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.58, a P/E/G ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 16.39%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DHR. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Guggenheim began coverage on Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Danaher from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.14.

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.