Russell Investments Group Ltd. Cuts Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 953,274 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 16,453 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $218,830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Hemenway Trust Co LLC grew its stake in Danaher by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Hemenway Trust Co LLC now owns 161,183 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $37,000,000 after purchasing an additional 4,804 shares during the last quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,343 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 5,217 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,198,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oarsman Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 1,398 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $181.42 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $181.20 and a one year high of $281.70. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $209.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $234.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business earned $2.09 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 24.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on DHR. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price target (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.24.

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.