Optas LLC Sells 327 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Optas LLC lowered its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 16.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,687 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 327 shares during the period. Optas LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher by 15.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,566,116,000 after acquiring an additional 3,217,631 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,582,982 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $996,141,000 after purchasing an additional 535,254 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher by 40,196.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 429,964 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $119,539,000 after buying an additional 428,897 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 30.4% during the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,705,884 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $465,617,000 after buying an additional 397,671 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $74,551,000. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher 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 owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 10.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Stock Down 3.9 %

Danaher stock opened at $214.09 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $235.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $253.09. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $214.03 and a 1-year high of $281.70. The company has a market cap of $154.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its 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 return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DHR. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 target price (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

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.