Van ECK Associates Corp Reduces Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Van ECK Associates Corp cut its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,767 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 157 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Danaher were worth $3,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Banco Santander S.A. bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the third quarter valued at approximately $683,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Danaher by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 26,611 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,156,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Cercano Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Cercano Management LLC now owns 202,569 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $46,862,000 after purchasing an additional 20,715 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 296,996 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $68,707,000 after purchasing an additional 96,395 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Danaher by 4.8% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,080 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $764,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $247.40 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.85. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $182.09 and a 52-week high of $259.00. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $248.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $232.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.62 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 11.43%. The company’s revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.36 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays increased 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, April 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $267.31.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were 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 owns 38,102 shares in the company, valued at $9,601,704. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Danaher news, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total transaction 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 approximately $9,601,704. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alan G. Spoon sold 708 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total value of $172,454.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 116,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,304,483.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 103,984 shares of company stock valued at $25,997,094. Company insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

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.