AIA Group Ltd Trims Holdings in Danaher Corporation $DHR

AIA Group Ltd reduced its stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 44.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 96,121 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 77,434 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Danaher were worth $19,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the second quarter worth $26,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the second quarter worth $27,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim raised their target price on Danaher from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Danaher from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $270.00 price target for the company. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.55.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $191.43 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.51. Danaher Corporation has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $242.80. The company has a market capitalization of $135.36 billion, a PE ratio of 37.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a fifty day moving average of $216.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $215.14.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.09. Danaher had a net margin of 14.71% and a return on equity of 10.81%. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.14 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 25.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Gregory M. Milosevich sold 1,320 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.01, for a total value of $274,573.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,099 shares in the company, valued at $1,060,642.99. This trade represents a 20.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Danaher

Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) is a global science and technology company that designs, manufactures and markets products and services for the life sciences, diagnostics, and environmental and applied markets. The company organizes its operations into business segments focused on Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental & Applied Solutions, supplying instruments, reagents, software and related services that support research, clinical testing, biopharmaceutical development, and industrial and environmental monitoring.

Products and services in Danaher’s portfolio include analytical and diagnostic instruments, laboratory consumables and reagents, digital and software solutions for workflow and data management, field and industrial monitoring equipment, and service and maintenance programs.