DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main Sells 3,601,092 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main decreased its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 91.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 318,229 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 3,601,092 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main’s holdings in Danaher were worth $73,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Up 1.6 %

DHR opened at $193.10 on Thursday. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $171.00 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $198.94 and a 200 day moving average of $220.49. The firm has a market cap of $138.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 24.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $264.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.