National Bank of Canada FI Sells 240,594 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

National Bank of Canada FI reduced its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 37.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 407,338 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 240,594 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.06% of Danaher worth $93,509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 4.1% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,988,000. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 20.9% in the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 72,419 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $20,134,000 after buying an additional 12,500 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 526.8% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 13,496 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $3,753,000 after buying an additional 11,343 shares during the period. Finally, Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,270 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $631,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Activity

In other Danaher 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 value of $1,277,541.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 sale 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 currently owned by insiders.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of Danaher stock traded down $7.41 during trading on Thursday, reaching $197.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,413,027 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,208,190. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $211.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $234.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $196.34 and a one year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.65%. This is an increase from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher's payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on DHR shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Danaher from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $278.24.

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.