Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Trims Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lowered its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,033 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 113 shares during the quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Danaher by 15.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,566,116,000 after acquiring an additional 3,217,631 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Danaher by 5.4% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 3.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,097,986 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,417,342,000 after acquiring an additional 148,251 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 2.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,552,640 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,265,725,000 after purchasing an additional 116,299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch SE boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 3,710,738 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $851,800,000 after purchasing an additional 44,490 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $210.65 on Wednesday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $225.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $246.04. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $196.80 and a one year high of $281.70. The company has a market cap of $150.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.90, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 prior year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on DHR. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America raised shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wolfe Research upgraded Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

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.