Sentry Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Sentry Investment Management LLC cut its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 17.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,863 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 382 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $465,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DHR. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its position in Danaher by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,830 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $423,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,632 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $840,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,917 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $255,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 4,625 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,070,000 after buying an additional 3,430 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR stock opened at $274.72 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $198.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.43. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $182.09 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $262.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $256.11.

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. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 16.94%. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.05 EPS. Danaher’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,130,374.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Linda Filler sold 3,928 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.50, for a total transaction of $1,097,876.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,501,145.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the business’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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on DHR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Danaher from $266.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a report on Friday, September 6th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Danaher in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.94.

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.