Great Diamond Partners LLC Trims Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Great Diamond Partners LLC lessened its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 930 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 54 shares during the period. Great Diamond Partners LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in Danaher by 3.2% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,231 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 957 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Well Done LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 3,551 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $987,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Danaher by 0.9% during the third quarter. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,520 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,257,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $222.56 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $235.66 and a 200 day moving average of $253.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.15, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $221.34 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DHR. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Danaher from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.