Jackson Square Partners LLC Reduces Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Jackson Square Partners LLC trimmed its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,950 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 878 shares during the quarter. Jackson Square Partners LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $3,891,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in Danaher during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $212.97 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $152.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.33, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $196.80 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The company’s 50 day moving average is $216.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $238.13. 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, 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 in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors 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 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DHR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.24.

Danaher 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.