Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ trimmed its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 342,938 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 19,712 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Danaher were worth $78,756,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 380.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 168 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 38,108 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,748,000 after buying an additional 1,079 shares during the period. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 7,784 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,787,000 after acquiring an additional 943 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC grew its position in Danaher by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 8,407 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,930,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lowered their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed 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. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Trading Down 0.2 %

Danaher stock opened at $205.24 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $221.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $241.48. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $196.80 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.69 billion, a PE ratio of 38.87, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 last year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Danaher Company 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.