Valmark Advisers Inc. Sells 613 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Valmark Advisers Inc. lowered its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 21.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,287 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 613 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $525,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on DHR shares. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America raised shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim began coverage on Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 target price (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $206.66 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $149.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $229.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $249.13. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $196.80 and a 1 year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

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

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.