Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 38,494 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 310 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $8,836,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,566,116,000 after acquiring an additional 3,217,631 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 17.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,582,982 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $996,141,000 after acquiring an additional 535,254 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Danaher by 40,196.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 429,964 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $119,539,000 after acquiring an additional 428,897 shares during the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,705,884 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $465,617,000 after purchasing an additional 397,671 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $74,551,000. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

DHR opened at $206.92 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $232.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $251.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.45 billion, a PE ratio of 39.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.83. 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 12-month low of $205.79 and a 12-month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.77 EPS for the current 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. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 10.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on DHR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Danaher from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

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.