Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Stack Financial Management Inc

Stack Financial Management Inc lowered its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,193 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 576 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises approximately 1.6% of Stack Financial Management Inc’s investment 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 quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price objective (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

Danaher Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:DHR opened at $211.23 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $226.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $246.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.01, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $196.80 and a 1-year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 posted $2.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.24%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.