Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Cuts Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. decreased its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,309 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,040 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $6,957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 63.3% in the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim started coverage on Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.24.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR opened at $212.97 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.33, 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 quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $196.80 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The company’s fifty day moving average is $216.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $238.13.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted 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 previous year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.32 dividend. This is a boost 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 0.60%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Danaher Company 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.