Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System trimmed its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 188,206 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,930 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Danaher were worth $43,203,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,566 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Danaher by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 70,304 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $16,138,000 after purchasing an additional 3,070 shares in the last quarter. Gouws Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Gouws Capital LLC now owns 26,802 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,152,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Danaher by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 922 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Danaher by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 238,148 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $54,667,000 after purchasing an additional 5,161 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on DHR. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

DHR stock opened at $205.92 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.00, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $196.80 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $223.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $243.86.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (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 in the previous year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

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.