Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Mutual of America Capital Management LLC

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 76,899 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 2,146 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $17,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its position in shares of Danaher by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $4,874,000 after acquiring an additional 2,202 shares during the period. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Danaher by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC now owns 238,092 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $66,194,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Danaher by 1,212.8% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 2,559 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. raised its position in Danaher by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 202,263 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $56,233,000 after purchasing an additional 2,465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Generate Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,044,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $277.00 target price (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $278.00.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR traded up $1.63 on Tuesday, reaching $207.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,042,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,531,523. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.27, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The stock's 50-day moving average is $224.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $244.31. 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 (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This is a boost from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher's payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Danaher 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.