E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB Increases Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB increased its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,260 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,310 shares during the period. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB’s holdings in Danaher were worth $6,717,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 15.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,566,116,000 after purchasing an additional 3,217,631 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Danaher by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,582,982 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $996,141,000 after buying an additional 535,254 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Danaher by 40,196.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 429,964 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $119,539,000 after buying an additional 428,897 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Danaher by 30.4% in the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,705,884 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $465,617,000 after acquiring an additional 397,671 shares during the period. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at about $74,551,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE:DHR opened at $214.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $154.64 billion, a PE ratio of 40.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.83. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $235.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $253.09. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $214.03 and a 52 week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DHR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

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.