Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Has $432.26 Million Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,883,061 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 46,299 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.26% of Danaher worth $432,257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Danaher during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Stock Performance

DHR opened at $209.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $151.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.83. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $233.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $252.39. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $209.10 and a 1 year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 prior year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.45%.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $309.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Danaher from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Danaher Company 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.