Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Nexus Investment Management ULC

Nexus Investment Management ULC trimmed its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 10.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,755 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 900 shares during the period. Danaher makes up 0.2% of Nexus Investment Management ULC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Nexus Investment Management ULC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Danaher by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $13,715,641,000 after buying an additional 315,912 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,056,996,000 after buying an additional 315,446 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Danaher by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,589,019 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,971,609,000 after acquiring an additional 441,012 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Danaher by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,934,991 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,821,477,000 after acquiring an additional 992,594 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $190.38 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $171.00 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The stock has a market cap of $136.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business’s 50 day moving average is $193.18 and its 200-day moving average is $214.13.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. Equities research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.85%.

Insider Activity

In other Danaher news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total value of $245,925,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 3,105,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on DHR shares. Barclays raised their price target on Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $263.24.

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.