KCM Investment Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 89,033 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,119 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $24,753,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Danaher by 7.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,107,030 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $15,009,928,000 after buying an additional 4,163,657 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Danaher by 2.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,964,031 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,490,112,000 after buying an additional 139,989 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Danaher by 1.0% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,125,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,279,932,000 after buying an additional 52,679 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Danaher by 2.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,398,649 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $849,195,000 after buying an additional 85,081 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Danaher by 22.7% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,047,728 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $761,475,000 after buying an additional 563,546 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of Danaher stock traded down $6.87 on Friday, reaching $232.51. The company had a trading volume of 955,415 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,739,923. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $262.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $260.49. The firm has a market cap of $167.94 billion, a PE ratio of 45.00, a PEG ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.85. 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 quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 16.39% and a return on equity of 10.62%. The business’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.61%.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total transaction of $255,488.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares in the company, valued at $1,130,374.44. The trade was a 18.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on DHR shares. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $275.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $309.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $287.16.

Danaher Company 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.