Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Nottingham Advisors Inc.

Nottingham Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 22.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,634 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 480 shares during the period. Nottingham Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $375,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Danaher by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $13,715,641,000 after purchasing an additional 315,912 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,056,996,000 after buying an additional 315,446 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Danaher by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,589,019 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,971,609,000 after acquiring an additional 441,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Danaher by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,578,945 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,051,097,000 after acquiring an additional 26,305 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $205.23 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $212.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $235.18. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $196.34 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a market cap of $146.68 billion, a PE ratio of 38.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) 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 last year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. 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 0.62%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America upgraded shares of 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. Guggenheim began coverage on Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.