Fmr LLC Sells 3,097,352 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Fmr LLC lessened its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 13.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,520,072 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 3,097,352 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC owned approximately 2.84% of Danaher worth $4,710,383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its holdings in Danaher by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,874,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Danaher by 1,212.8% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 2,559 shares during the period. Generate Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $8,044,000. Compass Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Danaher by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Compass Capital Management Inc. now owns 237,922 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $54,615,000 after purchasing an additional 10,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Channing Global Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. Channing Global Advisors LLC now owns 5,666 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,301,000 after buying an additional 1,698 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 8.3 %

DHR opened at $181.42 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $129.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $181.20 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $209.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $233.99. 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 (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on DHR. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim started coverage on Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.24.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.