Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Sells 10,889 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. trimmed its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 619,386 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 10,889 shares during the period. Danaher accounts for about 1.5% of Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned approximately 0.09% of Danaher worth $172,202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher in the 2nd quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP acquired a new position in Danaher in the 1st quarter valued at $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Danaher stock opened at $230.50 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $262.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $260.47. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $206.30 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The company has a market capitalization of $166.49 billion, a PE ratio of 43.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.39% and a return on equity of 10.62%. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.51 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 20.61%.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total value of $255,488.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,212 shares in the company, valued at $1,130,374.44. This represents a 18.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James dropped their target price on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America upped their target price on Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Danaher from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $287.16.

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.