Parnassus Investments LLC Sells 36,008 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Parnassus Investments LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,356,252 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 36,008 shares during the quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC owned 0.33% of Danaher worth $655,085,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DHR. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 3.2% in 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 during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the 3rd quarter worth $217,000. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the 2nd quarter worth $363,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. boosted its stake in Danaher by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 202,263 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $56,233,000 after purchasing an additional 2,465 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in Danaher by 75.4% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 4,360 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 1,874 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Leerink Partners upped their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $280.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $333.00 to $311.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $287.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total transaction of $255,488.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,130,374.44. This trade represents a 18.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 10.90% of the company's stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR traded up $0.70 on Tuesday, reaching $230.76. 2,608,177 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,764,661. The company has a fifty day moving average of $261.33 and a 200-day moving average of $260.45. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $207.63 and a twelve month high of $281.70. The company has a market capitalization of $166.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.13, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 16.39% and a return on equity of 10.62%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.61%.

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.