Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Has $7.94 Million Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,600 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,600 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Danaher were worth $7,942,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Danaher by 3.2% during the third quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC now owns 238,092 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $66,194,000 after acquiring an additional 7,421 shares in the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 3rd quarter worth about $217,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 1,212.8% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 2,559 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Danaher by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 202,263 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $56,233,000 after purchasing an additional 2,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in Danaher by 1.3% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 847,348 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $235,583,000 after buying an additional 11,216 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $201.15 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $145.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $231.96 and its 200-day moving average is $251.14. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $199.75 and a one year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 20.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on DHR shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wolfe Research upgraded Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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.