J.P. Marvel Investment Advisors LLC Trims Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

J.P. Marvel Investment Advisors LLC cut its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 28,855 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 5,325 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises about 1.1% of J.P. Marvel Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. J.P. Marvel Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $6,624,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DHR. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the third quarter worth $5,923,000. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 3.1% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 126,340 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $35,125,000 after acquiring an additional 3,749 shares during the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the third quarter worth $217,000. Ellsworth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the third quarter worth $223,000. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the third quarter worth $207,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Trading Up 1.5 %

DHR stock opened at $206.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $149.26 billion, a PE ratio of 39.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $196.80 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $229.53 and its 200 day moving average is $249.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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, research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.