Empire Life Investments Inc. Sells 757 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Empire Life Investments Inc. lowered its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 62,789 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 757 shares during the quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $17,457,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DHR. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.8% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,153 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 3.2% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,231 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Danaher by 3.4% in the second quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 1,230 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Trust Co of Kansas raised its position in Danaher by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Trust Co of Kansas now owns 1,022 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abacus Planning Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Danaher by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 5,439 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,359,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $247.76 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $178.95 billion, a PE ratio of 47.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $266.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $260.51. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $190.95 and a 52 week high of $281.70.

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

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were issued 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 0.44%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,130,374.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Danaher from $309.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $275.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $287.16.

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.