Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lessened its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 289,743 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 20,546 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Danaher were worth $66,511,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Danaher by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DHR has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America raised Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.24.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR opened at $212.36 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $196.80 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The company’s fifty day moving average is $216.41 and its 200-day moving average is $237.75. The firm has a market cap of $151.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted 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 return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.10% 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.