Boston Trust Walden Corp Trims Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Boston Trust Walden Corp decreased its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,955 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 434 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in Danaher were worth $10,319,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DHR. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 15.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,566,116,000 after buying an additional 3,217,631 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,097,986 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,417,342,000 after purchasing an additional 148,251 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 2.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,552,640 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,265,725,000 after buying an additional 116,299 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 17.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,582,982 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $996,141,000 after purchasing an additional 535,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its position in Danaher by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,715,826 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $382,936,000 after acquiring an additional 9,942 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents 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 through this hyperlink. Insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on DHR. Citigroup reduced their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research raised Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Bank of America upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $309.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.00.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE:DHR opened at $214.09 on Tuesday. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $214.03 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.64 billion, a PE ratio of 40.55, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $235.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $253.09. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.77 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.45%.

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.