Fred Alger Management LLC Cuts Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Fred Alger Management LLC lowered its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 93.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,269 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 498,051 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $7,416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Danaher by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $13,715,641,000 after purchasing an additional 315,912 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,056,996,000 after buying an additional 315,446 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 5.4% during the fourth 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 grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 992,594 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR traded down $7.47 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $189.14. 2,369,670 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,427,982. The company has a market cap of $135.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $197.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $218.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion during 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on DHR shares. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $264.40.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.