Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Has $1.20 Million Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 21.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,217 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 928 shares during the quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,198,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR opened at $180.71 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.15 billion, a PE ratio of 34.22, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company’s 50-day moving average is $208.60 and its 200-day moving average is $233.05. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $171.92 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued 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 net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DHR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank began coverage on Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 price objective (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company 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.