ProShare Advisors LLC Has $22.66 Million Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 98,720 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,770 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $22,661,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Danaher by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $13,715,641,000 after buying an additional 315,912 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Danaher by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,056,996,000 after buying an additional 315,446 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Danaher by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,589,019 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,971,609,000 after purchasing an additional 441,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Danaher by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,934,991 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,821,477,000 after purchasing an additional 992,594 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total transaction of $245,925,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of Danaher 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $264.40.

Danaher Stock Performance

DHR stock opened at $196.03 on Friday. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $196.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $217.64. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $171.00 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.29 billion, a PE ratio of 37.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.58 billion. Analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.85%.

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.