Erste Asset Management GmbH Reduces Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Erste Asset Management GmbH trimmed its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 14.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,504 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 3,236 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Danaher were worth $4,276,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC boosted its position in Danaher by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DHR. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price target on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Danaher Stock Performance

Danaher stock opened at $211.09 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $196.80 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The company has a market capitalization of $150.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.98, a price-to-earnings-growth 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’s fifty day moving average price is $220.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $240.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 24.24%.

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.