Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,309 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,040 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $6,957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Danaher during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Danaher by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $212.97 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $152.21 billion, a PE ratio of 40.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $196.80 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $216.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $238.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on DHR shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.24.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.