Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Primecap Management Co. CA

Primecap Management Co. CA lessened its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 61.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,402 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 19,535 shares during the quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA’s holdings in Danaher were worth $2,847,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,566,116,000 after purchasing an additional 3,217,631 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at about $391,172,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Danaher by 6,862.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $213,452,000 after acquiring an additional 916,513 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,105,388 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $712,842,000 after acquiring an additional 749,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher by 29,287.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 588,929 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $135,189,000 after purchasing an additional 586,925 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DHR. Barclays cut their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price for the company. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America raised Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.76.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE DHR opened at $209.90 on Thursday. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $196.80 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The company has a market capitalization of $150.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.75, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $218.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $239.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

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.