Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Stake Cut by Shell Asset Management Co.

Shell Asset Management Co. cut its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,513 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 247 shares during the quarter. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $4,938,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,130,740,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at about $391,172,000. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Danaher by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,361,183 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,460,215,000 after acquiring an additional 1,566,658 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Danaher by 460.6% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,348,544 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $309,558,000 after acquiring an additional 1,107,998 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Danaher by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,934,991 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,821,477,000 after acquiring an additional 992,594 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total value of $245,925,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at $611,036,665.92. The trade was a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE:DHR opened at $190.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $136.60 billion, a PE ratio of 36.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $171.00 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $197.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $217.96.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 24.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, April 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given 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 $264.40.

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.