Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Channing Global Advisors LLC

Channing Global Advisors LLC reduced its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 28.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,257 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,111 shares during the quarter. Danaher makes up about 0.9% of Channing Global Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Channing Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Danaher by 18.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,930,281 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,185,203,000 after acquiring an additional 3,905,449 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Danaher by 6.5% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,183,501 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,030,327,000 after acquiring an additional 502,868 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Danaher by 1.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,100,722 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,009,789,000 after acquiring an additional 134,905 shares in the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 4,601,351 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,064,477,000 after purchasing an additional 82,672 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 13.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,070,455 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,009,880,000 after purchasing an additional 473,693 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on DHR shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. HSBC upgraded shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $270.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other news, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total value of $5,986,764.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,601,704. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total transaction of $1,000,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,457,798.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total value of $5,986,764.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,601,704. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 84,132 shares of company stock worth $21,022,795. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Up 0.5 %

Danaher stock traded up $1.35 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $247.15. 1,068,379 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,764,344. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.85. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $182.09 and a fifty-two week high of $259.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.66, a PEG ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $248.94 and its 200-day moving average is $230.88.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.20. Danaher had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 11.43%. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.36 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.31%.

Danaher 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.