Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. Sells 14,150 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. lessened its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 361,448 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 14,150 shares during the period. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. owned 0.05% of Danaher worth $82,970,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. Norges Bank bought a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,130,740,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $391,172,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 6,862.7% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $213,452,000 after purchasing an additional 916,513 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,105,388 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $712,842,000 after buying an additional 749,136 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 29,287.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 588,929 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $135,189,000 after buying an additional 586,925 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DHR. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird set a $231.00 target price on Danaher in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $274.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

DHR opened at $186.71 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $133.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $202.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $227.84.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period last year, the firm 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 24.24%.

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.