Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Capital International Investors

Capital International Investors reduced its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,662,837 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 169,498 shares during the quarter. Capital International Investors owned approximately 2.45% of Danaher worth $4,054,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DHR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $13,715,641,000 after purchasing an additional 315,912 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Danaher by 2.4% in 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 buying an additional 315,446 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Danaher by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,589,019 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,971,609,000 after buying an additional 441,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Danaher by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,578,945 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,051,097,000 after acquiring an additional 26,305 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of Danaher stock traded up $6.02 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $198.09. The stock had a trading volume of 3,602,913 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,352,637. 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 12 month low of $171.00 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The stock has a market cap of $141.58 billion, a PE ratio of 37.52, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $201.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $225.77.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. 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 boost from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher's payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Insider Activity

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on DHR. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Danaher presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $265.75.

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.