Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Cuts Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd trimmed its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 93.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,038 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 15,190 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd's holdings in Danaher were worth $238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 11.6% in the 4th 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 increased its holdings in Danaher by 1,212.8% during 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 during the last quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,044,000. Compass Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Compass Capital Management Inc. now owns 237,922 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $54,615,000 after acquiring an additional 10,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Channing Global Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Channing Global Advisors LLC now owns 5,666 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,301,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on DHR. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $276.57.

Danaher Trading Up 4.4 %

Danaher stock traded up $7.99 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $188.75. The company had a trading volume of 4,764,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,319,341. The firm has a market cap of $134.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $203.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $229.58. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $281.70. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Danaher's payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Danaher

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.