Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC cut its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 12,751 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 87 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $2,927,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 4.1% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. acquired a new stake in Danaher in the third quarter valued at $228,000. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 3.8% during the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 1,646 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 212.5% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,753 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $765,000 after purchasing an additional 1,872 shares during the period. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 12.6% during the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 8,932 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,483,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE:DHR opened at $211.63 on Monday. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $196.80 and a twelve month high of $281.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a 50-day moving average of $217.46 and a 200-day moving average of $238.50. The firm has a market cap of $151.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DHR. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America raised shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.