Hartford Investment Management Co. Decreases Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Hartford Investment Management Co. lowered its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 39,694 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 768 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $9,112,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DHR. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 15.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,566,116,000 after purchasing an additional 3,217,631 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Danaher by 17.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,582,982 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $996,141,000 after purchasing an additional 535,254 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 40,196.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 429,964 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $119,539,000 after purchasing an additional 428,897 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Danaher by 30.4% in the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,705,884 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $465,617,000 after purchasing an additional 397,671 shares during the period. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $74,551,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $201.15 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $231.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $251.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.29 billion, a PE ratio of 38.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $199.75 and a 1-year high of $281.70. 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 (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share 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 analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.45%.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on DHR shares. 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. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. 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. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Seven investment 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

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.