The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Lowers Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,860,099 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 126,168 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.26% of Danaher worth $517,144,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Danaher during the 1st quarter worth $676,545,000. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in Danaher by 99.0% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,358,706 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $339,473,000 after purchasing an additional 675,952 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Danaher by 22.7% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,047,728 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $761,475,000 after purchasing an additional 563,546 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Danaher by 40,196.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 429,964 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $119,539,000 after purchasing an additional 428,897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 30.4% in the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,705,884 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $465,617,000 after acquiring an additional 397,671 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $278.00 to $277.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Danaher from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $285.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $287.16.

Danaher Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE DHR traded down $1.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $236.53. 2,377,712 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,767,037. The company has a market capitalization of $170.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.85. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $215.68 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $256.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $259.81.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 16.39% and a return on equity of 10.62%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.61%.

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.