Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Securian Asset Management Inc.

Securian Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 34,548 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,003 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $7,930,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 15.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,566,116,000 after purchasing an additional 3,217,631 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $391,172,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Danaher by 6,862.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $213,452,000 after acquiring an additional 916,513 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 29,287.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 588,929 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $135,189,000 after acquiring an additional 586,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Danaher by 17.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,582,982 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $996,141,000 after acquiring an additional 535,254 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $206.01 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $221.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $241.74. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $196.80 and a 52 week 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 cap of $147.24 billion, a PE ratio of 39.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 prior year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DHR. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price for the company. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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.