Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Stake Lowered by Impax Asset Management Group plc

Impax Asset Management Group plc trimmed its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 925,550 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 20,387 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc owned about 0.13% of Danaher worth $211,843,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Up 0.9 %

Danaher stock opened at $209.86 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $226.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $246.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $196.80 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The stock has a market cap of $149.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results 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 period last year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 24.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on DHR shares. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wolfe Research raised Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 price target (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Danaher

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.