Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Sells 18,448 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 426,852 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 18,448 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $97,984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 12,466 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,466,000 after buying an additional 2,550 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,542 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $429,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 24,903 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,924,000 after acquiring an additional 5,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,612 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,004,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

DHR stock opened at $205.69 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $147.01 billion, a PE ratio of 38.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50 day moving average of $214.57 and a 200-day moving average of $236.64. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $196.80 and a 12-month 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 for the quarter, hitting 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 company earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price target for the company. Barclays reduced their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price objective (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.24.

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.