Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Notis McConarty Edward

Notis McConarty Edward lowered its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 21,950 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 625 shares during the quarter. Danaher makes up 2.4% of Notis McConarty Edward’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Notis McConarty Edward’s holdings in Danaher were worth $5,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its stake in Danaher by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,874,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 1,212.8% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $636,000 after buying an additional 2,559 shares during the last quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,044,000. Compass Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Compass Capital Management Inc. now owns 237,922 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $54,615,000 after buying an additional 10,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Channing Global Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Channing Global Advisors LLC now owns 5,666 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,301,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DHR shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim started coverage on Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 11.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Danaher Stock Down 8.3 %

DHR stock opened at $181.42 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $209.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $234.26. The company has a market capitalization of $129.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $181.20 and a 52 week 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.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share 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 prior year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. 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 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

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.