Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. Sells 696 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,927 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 696 shares during the quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $6,411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR stock opened at $209.86 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $226.71 and a 200-day moving average of $246.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $196.80 and a 12 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.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly 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 business posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.32 dividend. 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 0.61%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 target price (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

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.