Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Prudential PLC

Prudential PLC decreased its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 56,875 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 3,142 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $13,056,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Danaher has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.24.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $181.42 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $181.20 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.66 billion, a PE ratio of 34.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $209.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $234.26.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.