Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Cuts Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co lessened its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 8.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 124,126 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 11,674 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Danaher were worth $31,013,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DHR. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,752,382,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 7.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,107,030 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $15,009,928,000 after buying an additional 4,163,657 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Danaher by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,928,442 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,460,966,000 after acquiring an additional 2,998,161 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Danaher during the 1st quarter valued at $676,545,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its holdings in Danaher by 214.4% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,073,661 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $711,051,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096,038 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:DHR traded up $1.49 on Friday, hitting $266.20. 3,324,729 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,790,567. The company has a market cap of $197.17 billion, a PE ratio of 45.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $261.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $255.78. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $182.09 and a 1 year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.15. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 16.94%. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.05 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 9,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.16, for a total transaction of $2,641,536.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,566,486.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total transaction of $255,488.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,130,374.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 9,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.16, for a total transaction of $2,641,536.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,566,486.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,659 shares of company stock worth $11,042,433 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on DHR shares. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, June 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $295.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.94.

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.