Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Trims Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 21,317 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 77 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $5,326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Tsfg LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 733.3% during the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 100 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the second quarter worth $25,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the first quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $272.63 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $267.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $257.14. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $182.09 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $201.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.21, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 16.94%. The business’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.05 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.31%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total transaction of $255,488.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,130,374.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Matthew Mcgrew sold 16,172 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.84, for a total value of $4,525,572.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,229,254.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total transaction of $255,488.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,130,374.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,659 shares of company stock valued at $11,042,433 in the last ninety days. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on DHR. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Danaher from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Danaher in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $295.00 target price for the company. Bank of America increased their price target on Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Danaher from $266.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.94.

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.