Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Purchased by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,023,696 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 71,540 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $240,405,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in Danaher by 4.1% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 1,646 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in Danaher by 544.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 954 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 806 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 3rd quarter worth $110,000. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Danaher during the third quarter worth $555,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on DHR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank began coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.24.

Danaher Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $210.15 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $215.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $237.56. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $196.80 and a 12-month high of $281.70. 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 company has a market capitalization of $150.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.80, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 24.24%.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’s 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 owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.