Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by National Pension Service

National Pension Service reduced its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,327,240 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 7,239 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.18% of Danaher worth $304,668,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DHR. Fjell Capital LLC acquired a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $454,000. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 2,217 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $509,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,371,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. JFG Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $315,000. Finally, Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com cut Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Citigroup cut their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $210.65 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $150.56 billion, a PE ratio of 39.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $196.80 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $225.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $246.04.

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 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 previous year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 24.24%.

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.