Franklin Resources Inc. Has $1.70 Billion Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,393,106 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 350,696 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,697,087,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DHR. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its position in shares of Danaher by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,874,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in Danaher by 1,212.8% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $636,000 after buying an additional 2,559 shares in the last quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $8,044,000. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 847,348 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $235,583,000 after acquiring an additional 11,216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Danaher by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Compass Capital Management Inc. now owns 237,922 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $54,615,000 after buying an additional 10,994 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

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 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. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DHR. Scotiabank began coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price objective (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.24.

Danaher Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of DHR opened at $205.69 on Monday. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $196.80 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $214.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $236.39. The firm has a market cap of $147.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

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.