The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Reduces Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 35.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,986,267 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,114,711 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Danaher were worth $496,270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in Danaher by 1.8% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,153 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Danaher by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 1,230 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co of Kansas increased its holdings in Danaher by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Trust Co of Kansas now owns 1,022 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its position in Danaher by 0.7% during the second quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 5,439 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Certified Advisory Corp grew its position in shares of Danaher by 4.5% in the second quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 926 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on DHR shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Danaher from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Danaher in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $295.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $271.00 to $278.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Leerink Partners increased their price target on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.94.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,007 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $2,521,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 97,983 shares in the company, valued at $27,435,240. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,007 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $2,521,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 97,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,435,240. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 9,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.16, for a total transaction of $2,641,536.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $5,566,486.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 39,659 shares of company stock valued at $11,042,433. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $276.93 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $269.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $257.68. The company has a market cap of $205.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $182.09 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 16.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.05 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.31%.

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.