Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Lowers Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on DHR. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, HSBC decreased their price objective on Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. 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.com, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $263.24.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total value of $245,925,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR traded up $4.48 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $189.02. The company had a trading volume of 2,990,410 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,473,398. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $171.00 and a twelve month 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. The stock has a market cap of $135.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $194.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $214.85.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.58 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.85%.

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.