Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Groupama Asset Managment

Groupama Asset Managment cut its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 63.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,908 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 60,497 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in Danaher were worth $8,017,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 315,912 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 315,446 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised 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 acquiring an additional 441,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,578,945 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,051,097,000 after acquiring an additional 26,305 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DHR shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Scotiabank started coverage on Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.24.

Danaher Stock Performance

DHR opened at $200.09 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business’s 50 day moving average is $213.02 and its 200-day moving average is $235.39. The stock has a market cap of $143.01 billion, a PE ratio of 37.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $196.80 and a twelve month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. 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 is currently 24.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.