Park Avenue Securities LLC Reduces Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lessened its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,253 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,298 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $6,465,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 13,601 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,147,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Danaher by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,019,434 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $235,836,000 after buying an additional 55,458 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 82.7% during the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 2,079 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $485,000 after buying an additional 941 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Danaher by 35.7% during the fourth quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 176,201 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $40,762,000 after acquiring an additional 46,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC now owns 1,259 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DHR has been the subject of several research reports. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a report on Friday, September 6th. Stephens started coverage on Danaher in a report on Tuesday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $315.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Danaher from $271.00 to $278.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $282.12.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total value of $255,488.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,130,374.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,007 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $2,521,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 97,983 shares in the company, valued at $27,435,240. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $1,130,374.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,659 shares of company stock worth $11,042,433. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE DHR traded down $0.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $270.03. The company had a trading volume of 1,132,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,759,666. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $271.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $258.56. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $182.09 and a 52-week 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 $200.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.77, a PEG ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion for 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.05 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 18.31%.

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.