Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH Lowers Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH reduced its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 78.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,074 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 18,220 shares during the quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,165,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 93.8% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,564 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,736,000 after purchasing an additional 3,661 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in Danaher by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 9,348 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,146,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,658 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $840,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $14,583,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was 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 owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,005,442. The trade was a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 stock was sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total transaction of $245,925,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This trade represents 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 Stock Up 2.7%

DHR stock opened at $196.03 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $140.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.13, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $171.00 and a twelve month high of $281.70. The company’s 50 day moving average is $196.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $217.64.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping 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. Research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on DHR. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.