Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,770,517 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 49,105 shares during the quarter. Danaher makes up 1.1% of T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned 1.08% of Danaher worth $1,783,723,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on DHR shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Danaher currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $264.40.

Danaher Stock Performance

DHR traded down $2.15 during trading on Monday, reaching $194.99. 785,418 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,345,037. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $200.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $223.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. 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 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $281.70.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.32 dividend. This is a boost 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 0.66%. Danaher's payout ratio is presently 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.