Axiom Investors LLC DE Purchases 140,191 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Axiom Investors LLC DE raised its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 24.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 716,576 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 140,191 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises about 1.2% of Axiom Investors LLC DE’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Axiom Investors LLC DE owned about 0.10% of Danaher worth $164,490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on DHR. StockNews.com lowered Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.24.

Danaher Stock Down 2.1 %

DHR opened at $205.69 on Monday. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $196.80 and a twelve month high of $281.70. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $214.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $236.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.96, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued 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 period last year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.24%.

Insider Activity

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.10% 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.