National Bank of Canada FI Sells 158,864 Shares of Danaher Corporation $DHR

National Bank of Canada FI trimmed its position in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 25.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 469,761 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 158,864 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Danaher were worth $92,795,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in Danaher in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Red Tortoise LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 175.0% during the second quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 154 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the second quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $226.70 on Monday. Danaher Corporation has a twelve month low of $171.00 and a twelve month high of $258.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $160.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.74, a PEG ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $218.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $205.90.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The conglomerate reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.17. Danaher had a net margin of 14.44% and a return on equity of 10.92%. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 26th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 26.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on DHR shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn restated a “neutral” rating and set a $220.00 price objective (down previously from $245.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $241.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. HSBC lifted their target price on Danaher from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Danaher from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $246.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 5,174 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.42, for a total transaction of $1,088,713.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,625 shares in the company, valued at $552,352.50. This represents a 66.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Teri List sold 3,298 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.50, for a total value of $746,997.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,702,593. The trade was a 13.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 30,248 shares of company stock worth $6,609,663 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.20% of the company’s stock.

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.