Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by M.D. Sass LLC

M.D. Sass LLC trimmed its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 155,987 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 20,261 shares during the period. Danaher accounts for 2.7% of M.D. Sass LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. M.D. Sass LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $35,807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its holdings in Danaher by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 1,646 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Danaher by 212.5% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,753 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $765,000 after buying an additional 1,872 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 12.6% in the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 8,932 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,483,000 after acquiring an additional 996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 2.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,552,640 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,265,725,000 after acquiring an additional 116,299 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE DHR opened at $212.97 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $196.80 and a one year high of $281.70. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $216.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $238.13. The firm has a market capitalization 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 (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHR has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.24.

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.