Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. lessened its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,606 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 468 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,559,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DHR. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Danaher during the second quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the second quarter valued at $51,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $235.83 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $215.68 and a 1-year high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $170.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.01, a P/E/G ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $258.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $259.88.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 16.39%. The business’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.61%.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total value of $255,488.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,130,374.44. The trade was a 18.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Danaher from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $278.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $287.16.

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.