First Merchants Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

First Merchants Corp lowered its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,289 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,303 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Danaher were worth $9,478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,923,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in Danaher by 3.2% during the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,231 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. CX Institutional increased its position in Danaher by 5.5% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 2,908 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $808,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 3.1% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 126,340 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $35,125,000 after buying an additional 3,749 shares during the period. Finally, Magnus Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the 3rd quarter valued at $233,000. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DHR. Barclays decreased their price objective on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $203.56 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $230.49 and a 200 day moving average of $250.28. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.03 billion, a PE ratio of 38.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.