BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Sells 7,336 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lowered its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 16.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 37,199 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 7,336 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Danaher were worth $8,539,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its position in Danaher by 63.3% in the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR traded up $4.45 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $196.52. The stock had a trading volume of 6,494,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,349,299. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The company's fifty day moving average is $201.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $225.77.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. On average, 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. This is a positive change from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher's payout ratio is presently 24.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price objective on Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $264.40.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by 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.