Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. trimmed its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 14.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 30,516 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 5,275 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $7,003,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $13,715,641,000 after purchasing an additional 315,912 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Danaher by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,056,996,000 after acquiring an additional 315,446 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,589,019 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,971,609,000 after acquiring an additional 441,012 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,361,183 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,460,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566,658 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DHR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $264.40.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of Danaher stock traded up $3.26 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $199.17. 3,686,255 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,360,833. The business has a fifty day moving average of $200.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $223.46. 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 company has a market capitalization of $142.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.58 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. This is a positive change from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.