First Manhattan CO. LLC. Reduces Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. cut its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,904,106 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 23,522 shares during the period. Danaher accounts for approximately 1.3% of First Manhattan CO. LLC.'s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. First Manhattan CO. LLC. owned approximately 0.26% of Danaher worth $437,862,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,130,740,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth approximately $391,172,000. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Danaher by 32.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,361,183 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,460,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566,658 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Danaher by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,934,991 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,821,477,000 after purchasing an additional 992,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Danaher by 6,862.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $213,452,000 after purchasing an additional 916,513 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the subject of several research reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $264.40.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Danaher Trading Down 2.8%

DHR traded down $5.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $189.42. 4,535,806 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,411,207. The firm's fifty day moving average is $198.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $219.00. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $171.00 and a 1-year high of $281.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $135.56 billion, a PE ratio of 35.88, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Danaher's payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

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.