Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,977,046 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 79,930 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.41% of Danaher worth $683,381,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Americana Partners LLC increased its holdings in Danaher by 1,142.2% in the fourth quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 25,527 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,860,000 after buying an additional 23,472 shares during the last quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. boosted its stake in Danaher by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 33,498 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,689,000 after acquiring an additional 9,474 shares during the period. Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 168.3% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 9,317 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,139,000 after acquiring an additional 5,845 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Danaher by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 2,586 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $594,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,778 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,851,000 after acquiring an additional 885 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction 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 represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $206.66 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $149.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.14, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $229.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $249.33. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $196.80 and a 52 week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 20.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on DHR. Scotiabank began coverage on Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

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.