Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Holdings Lowered by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 276,836 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 14,088 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Danaher were worth $63,548,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Danaher by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $13,715,641,000 after acquiring an additional 315,912 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,056,996,000 after purchasing an additional 315,446 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,589,019 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,971,609,000 after buying an additional 441,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,934,991 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,821,477,000 after buying an additional 992,594 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DHR has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Danaher from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Raymond James reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $263.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction 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 represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total transaction of $245,925,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 3,105,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $611,036,665.92. The trade was a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DHR traded up $0.98 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $190.16. 1,193,072 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,464,499. The company has a market cap of $136.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.01, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $194.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $214.67. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 week high of $281.70. 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 (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. Danaher's payout ratio is 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.