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

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 18.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,046 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 908 shares during the quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $936,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DHR. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher by 96,490.5% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,287,013 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,180,839,000 after buying an additional 23,262,904 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $2,057,164,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Danaher by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,930,281 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,185,203,000 after buying an additional 3,905,449 shares during the period. Allen Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1,440.7% during the third quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC now owns 1,100,399 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $273,009,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028,976 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Danaher during the third quarter valued at $178,850,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR opened at $239.39 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $249.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $229.86. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $182.09 and a 12-month high of $259.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $177.28 billion, a PE ratio of 37.46, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 17.26%. Danaher’s quarterly revenue was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.87 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Teri List sold 3,289 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.32, for a total value of $816,724.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 19,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,898,360.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Danaher news, Director Teri List sold 3,289 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.32, for a total value of $816,724.48. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,898,360.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total transaction of $5,986,764.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,601,704. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 32,957 shares of company stock worth $8,265,802. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Danaher from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James upped their price objective on Danaher from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Danaher from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $268.27.

Danaher Profile

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.