Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Sells 27,815 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. reduced its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 591,571 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 27,815 shares during the quarter. Danaher makes up approximately 1.3% of Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned approximately 0.08% of Danaher worth $135,796,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 15.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,566,116,000 after purchasing an additional 3,217,631 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,097,986 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,417,342,000 after buying an additional 148,251 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,552,640 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,265,725,000 after buying an additional 116,299 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Danaher by 17.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,582,982 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $996,141,000 after acquiring an additional 535,254 shares during the period. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,715,826 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $382,936,000 after acquiring an additional 9,942 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $206.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $149.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.19, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $205.79 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $232.72 and its 200 day moving average is $251.79.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. Research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DHR. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 target price (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.