Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Cuts Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 394,538 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 7,649 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $90,566,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC now owns 238,092 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $66,194,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421 shares during the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $217,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 1,212.8% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 2,559 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Danaher by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 202,263 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $56,233,000 after purchasing an additional 2,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generate Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,044,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Up 0.7 %

DHR stock opened at $203.56 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $196.80 and a one year high of $281.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.03 billion, a PE ratio of 38.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a fifty day moving average of $230.49 and a 200-day moving average of $250.28.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DHR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 target price (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Danaher from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.