Danaher Corporation $DHR Shares Sold by Nordea Investment Management AB

Nordea Investment Management AB reduced its position in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,826,112 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 18,574 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Danaher were worth $420,681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the second quarter worth approximately $1,979,503,000. Viking Global Investors LP increased its position in shares of Danaher by 543.9% during the second quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,907,515 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $574,351,000 after purchasing an additional 2,455,994 shares in the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP raised its stake in Danaher by 34.0% in the 3rd quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 6,654,666 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,319,354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,689,020 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Danaher by 211.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,088,089 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $414,038,000 after purchasing an additional 1,418,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Danaher by 33.9% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,519,013 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $697,680,000 after purchasing an additional 891,210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on DHR. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Danaher from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Robert W. Baird set a $251.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.55.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other Danaher news, EVP Gregory M. Milosevich sold 1,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.01, for a total transaction of $274,573.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,060,642.99. This trade represents a 20.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Danaher Price Performance

Danaher stock opened at $189.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $214.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $214.93. Danaher Corporation has a 12-month low of $171.00 and a 12-month high of $242.80. The stock has a market cap of $133.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.59, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.93.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.79 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 14.71% and a return on equity of 10.81%. Danaher’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 27th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 27th. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.40%.

Danaher Profile

Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) is a global science and technology company that designs, manufactures and markets products and services for the life sciences, diagnostics, and environmental and applied markets. The company organizes its operations into business segments focused on Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental & Applied Solutions, supplying instruments, reagents, software and related services that support research, clinical testing, biopharmaceutical development, and industrial and environmental monitoring.

Products and services in Danaher’s portfolio include analytical and diagnostic instruments, laboratory consumables and reagents, digital and software solutions for workflow and data management, field and industrial monitoring equipment, and service and maintenance programs.