Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Stock Holdings Decreased by E Fund Management Co. Ltd.

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. cut its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 45.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,137 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 5,068 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,409,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Danaher Stock Up 2.0 %

NYSE DHR opened at $214.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $222.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $243.43. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $196.80 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The company has a market capitalization of $153.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.67, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on DHR shares. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 target price (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.00.

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.