Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. Sells 908 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 18.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,046 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 908 shares during the quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DHR. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Danaher by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,930,281 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,185,203,000 after purchasing an additional 3,905,449 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Danaher by 96,490.5% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,287,013 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,180,839,000 after buying an additional 23,262,904 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Danaher by 6.5% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,183,501 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,030,327,000 after acquiring an additional 502,868 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,100,722 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,009,789,000 after buying an additional 134,905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,057,164,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Down 0.4 %

DHR opened at $239.39 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $249.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $229.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $177.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.46, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $182.09 and a twelve month high of $259.00.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 17.26%. Danaher’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.87 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Danaher from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Danaher currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $268.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total value of $636,280.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,244 shares in the company, valued at $1,029,891.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total value of $636,280.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,029,891.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Walter G. Lohr sold 3,289 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total transaction of $826,032.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,548,498.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 32,957 shares of company stock valued at $8,265,802. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.