Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Stock Position Lessened by Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund reduced its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 10.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,031 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,231 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Danaher were worth $5,291,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 3.2% during the third quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC now owns 238,092 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $66,194,000 after acquiring an additional 7,421 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the third quarter valued at approximately $217,000. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in Danaher during the second quarter worth approximately $363,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. grew its position in Danaher by 1.2% in the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 202,263 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $56,233,000 after buying an additional 2,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 75.4% in the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 4,360 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after buying an additional 1,874 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total transaction of $255,488.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares in the company, valued at $1,130,374.44. This trade represents a 18.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $230.51 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $166.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $262.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $260.38. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $206.30 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.39% and a return on equity of 10.62%. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. Danaher’s payout ratio is 20.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DHR. UBS Group decreased their target price on Danaher from $309.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $287.16.

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.