State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Has $57.39 Million Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury decreased its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 250,010 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 10,842 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury’s holdings in Danaher were worth $57,390,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. lifted its holdings in Danaher by 39.8% during the 4th quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 553,562 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $127,070,000 after purchasing an additional 157,538 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 28,585 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,562,000 after purchasing an additional 9,295 shares during the period. Thematics Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Thematics Asset Management now owns 73,496 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $16,871,000 after acquiring an additional 10,234 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA lifted its holdings in Danaher by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA now owns 53,597 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $12,303,000 after acquiring an additional 2,180 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $186.71 on Monday. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $201.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $226.60.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period last year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 24.24%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on DHR. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Danaher from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $240.00 to $205.00 in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.55.

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.