Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Invesco Ltd.

Invesco Ltd. lessened its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 21.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,257,875 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 878,217 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $747,845,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC boosted its position in Danaher by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value 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 represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE DHR opened at $180.71 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $208.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.05. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $171.92 and a twelve month high of $281.70. The stock has a market cap of $129.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.22, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. This is a positive change 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 is 24.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DHR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 target price (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.