Select Equity Group L.P. Sells 146,603 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Select Equity Group L.P. lessened its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 48.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 154,281 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 146,603 shares during the quarter. Select Equity Group L.P.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $35,415,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth about $2,130,740,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $391,172,000. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Danaher by 32.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,361,183 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,460,215,000 after buying an additional 1,566,658 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Danaher by 460.6% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,348,544 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $309,558,000 after acquiring an additional 1,107,998 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,934,991 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,821,477,000 after acquiring an additional 992,594 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR opened at $196.03 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $140.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $196.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $217.64. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $171.00 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 24.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on DHR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $264.40.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other Danaher news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total value of $245,925,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 3,105,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.