Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR Has $7.48 Million Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR cut its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 32,571 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 305 shares during the quarter. Danaher accounts for 1.9% of Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR’s holdings in Danaher were worth $7,477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,130,740,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $391,172,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 6,862.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $213,452,000 after acquiring an additional 916,513 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,105,388 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $712,842,000 after purchasing an additional 749,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Danaher by 29,287.7% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 588,929 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $135,189,000 after purchasing an additional 586,925 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Down 8.3 %

Shares of DHR stock opened at $181.42 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $129.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.36, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50 day moving average of $209.99 and a 200-day moving average of $234.26. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $181.20 and a 12-month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 24.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Danaher 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DHR has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Barclays dropped their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average 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.