Stack Financial Management Inc Has $17.95 Million Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Stack Financial Management Inc trimmed its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 78,193 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 576 shares during the period. Danaher comprises about 1.6% of Stack Financial Management Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Stack Financial Management Inc’s holdings in Danaher were worth $17,949,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,566,116,000 after acquiring an additional 3,217,631 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Danaher by 6,862.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $213,452,000 after purchasing an additional 916,513 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Danaher by 17.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,582,982 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $996,141,000 after purchasing an additional 535,254 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $120,718,000. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,705,884 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $465,617,000 after buying an additional 397,671 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $211.23 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $226.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $246.44. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $196.80 and a one year high of $281.70. The firm has a market cap of $150.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. On average, analysts expect 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. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented 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 upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Barclays dropped their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Seven equities research 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 company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.10% 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.