Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Reduces Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. cut its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 67.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,115 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 19,189 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $2,092,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $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. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 6,862.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $213,452,000 after buying an additional 916,513 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,105,388 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $712,842,000 after acquiring an additional 749,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 29,287.7% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 588,929 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $135,189,000 after acquiring an additional 586,925 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR traded up $0.87 during trading on Friday, hitting $197.37. 2,608,666 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,352,400. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $200.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $224.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $171.00 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The company has a market cap of $141.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.38, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Danaher's payout ratio is presently 24.85%.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $264.40.

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.