Danaher Corporation $DHR Shares Acquired by Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 62.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,135 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 3,126 shares during the quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Danaher by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 249,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $49,262,000 after buying an additional 3,862 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 11.6% during the second quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 13,332 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,634,000 after acquiring an additional 1,391 shares during the last quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Danaher by 6.1% in the second quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 526,950 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $104,094,000 after purchasing an additional 30,300 shares during the period. Nvwm LLC lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 7,093 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,401,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. now owns 322,924 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $63,787,000 after purchasing an additional 6,136 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Teri List sold 3,298 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.50, for a total transaction of $746,997.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,702,593. The trade was a 13.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 21,776 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.23, for a total value of $4,773,952.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,553 shares in the company, valued at $3,190,454.19. This trade represents a 59.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 30,248 shares of company stock worth $6,609,663 over the last 90 days. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Leerink Partners boosted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Argus set a $265.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Danaher from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $252.83.

Danaher Stock Down 1.6%

Danaher stock opened at $236.05 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.67, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Danaher Corporation has a twelve month low of $171.00 and a twelve month high of $258.23. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $228.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.99.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The conglomerate reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.17. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.92% and a net margin of 14.44%.The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.71 EPS. Danaher’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.39%.

Danaher Company Profile

Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) is a global science and technology company that designs, manufactures and markets products and services for the life sciences, diagnostics, and environmental and applied markets. The company organizes its operations into business segments focused on Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental & Applied Solutions, supplying instruments, reagents, software and related services that support research, clinical testing, biopharmaceutical development, and industrial and environmental monitoring.

Products and services in Danaher’s portfolio include analytical and diagnostic instruments, laboratory consumables and reagents, digital and software solutions for workflow and data management, field and industrial monitoring equipment, and service and maintenance programs.