Notis McConarty Edward Cuts Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Notis McConarty Edward lowered its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,950 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 625 shares during the period. Danaher comprises 2.4% of Notis McConarty Edward’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Notis McConarty Edward’s holdings in Danaher were worth $5,039,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $13,715,641,000 after acquiring an additional 315,912 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 315,446 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Danaher by 5.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,578,945 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,051,097,000 after buying an additional 26,305 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup reduced their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price target (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.24.

Danaher Stock Down 8.3 %

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $181.42 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.66 billion, a PE ratio of 34.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $209.99 and a 200-day moving average of $234.26. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $181.20 and a 52-week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (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 prior year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.