Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 48,044 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lowered its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 15.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 260,659 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 48,044 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Danaher were worth $53,435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Danaher by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Danaher from $265.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Danaher from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

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

Danaher Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of DHR opened at $199.26 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $142.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.74, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $211.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 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.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

Danaher Company 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.