Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Stake Reduced by Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt decreased its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,807 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,334,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of DHR. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,923,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $310,000. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its position in Danaher by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 11,048 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,071,000 after acquiring an additional 720 shares during the period. First PREMIER Bank grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 750.0% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 340 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 0.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 23,159 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,439,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $209.95 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $233.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $252.39. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $209.10 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.83. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America upgraded 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 decreased their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price target (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 10.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.