Invesco Ltd. Sells 878,217 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Invesco Ltd. reduced its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 21.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,257,875 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 878,217 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.45% of Danaher worth $747,845,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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Danaher Stock Up 4.4 %

Danaher stock traded up $7.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $188.75. 4,764,014 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,319,341. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $171.00 and a 1-year high of $281.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $203.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $229.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $134.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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 last year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is an increase from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on DHR. Barclays upgraded shares of Danaher from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $240.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $277.00 price objective (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $265.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $276.57.

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.