Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Has $3.03 Million Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,214 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 725 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $3,033,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Weitz Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Danaher by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 403,210 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $92,557,000 after acquiring an additional 52,300 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $9,601,000. PFC Capital Group Inc. boosted its stake in Danaher by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. PFC Capital Group Inc. now owns 3,262 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,056,996,000 after buying an additional 315,446 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roundview Capital LLC increased its position in Danaher by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 36,953 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,483,000 after buying an additional 958 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE:DHR opened at $200.09 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $143.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $196.80 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $213.02 and a 200-day moving average of $235.39. 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 posted 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 return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price objective (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.24.

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.