AIA Group Ltd Trims Stock Position in Danaher Corporation $DHR

AIA Group Ltd lessened its stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 44.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 96,121 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 77,434 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Danaher were worth $19,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the third quarter valued at $462,000. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Danaher by 1.6% in the second quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 249,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $49,262,000 after acquiring an additional 3,862 shares during the period. Weitz Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 526,950 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $104,094,000 after acquiring an additional 30,300 shares in the last quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. grew its position in shares of Danaher by 49.4% during the 3rd quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 25,340 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,024,000 after acquiring an additional 8,380 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in shares of Danaher by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 664,705 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $131,784,000 after acquiring an additional 18,744 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on DHR shares. Leerink Partners upped their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Danaher from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Danaher from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Argus set a $265.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.55.

Danaher Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of DHR stock opened at $191.43 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $216.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $215.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $135.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.98, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.93. Danaher Corporation has a twelve month low of $171.00 and a twelve month high of $242.80.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.09. Danaher had a net margin of 14.71% and a return on equity of 10.81%. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.79 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.14 earnings per share. Danaher’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 27th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Danaher’s payout ratio is 25.40%.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, EVP Gregory M. Milosevich sold 1,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.01, for a total value of $274,573.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,060,642.99. This represents a 20.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

About Danaher

Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) is a global science and technology company that designs, manufactures and markets products and services for the life sciences, diagnostics, and environmental and applied markets. The company organizes its operations into business segments focused on Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental & Applied Solutions, supplying instruments, reagents, software and related services that support research, clinical testing, biopharmaceutical development, and industrial and environmental monitoring.

Products and services in Danaher’s portfolio include analytical and diagnostic instruments, laboratory consumables and reagents, digital and software solutions for workflow and data management, field and industrial monitoring equipment, and service and maintenance programs.