Amundi Sells 709,900 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Amundi decreased its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 19.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,018,154 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 709,900 shares during the quarter. Amundi’s holdings in Danaher were worth $717,310,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,874,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 1,212.8% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 2,559 shares during the period. Generate Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $8,044,000. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in Danaher by 1.3% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 847,348 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $235,583,000 after purchasing an additional 11,216 shares during the period. Finally, Compass Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Danaher by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Compass Capital Management Inc. now owns 237,922 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $54,615,000 after purchasing an additional 10,994 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Down 1.1 %

Danaher stock opened at $212.35 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $196.80 and a one year high of $281.70. The company has a market cap of $151.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $222.51 and a 200-day moving average of $243.02.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on DHR shares. Citigroup dropped their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 price objective on Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

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.