Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Maple Capital Management Inc.

Maple Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 16.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,515 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 3,197 shares during the period. Maple Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $3,791,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in Danaher by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,566,116,000 after purchasing an additional 3,217,631 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 6,862.7% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $213,452,000 after buying an additional 916,513 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher by 29,287.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 588,929 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $135,189,000 after buying an additional 586,925 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 17.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,582,982 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $996,141,000 after buying an additional 535,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $120,718,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.00.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Up 1.0 %

Danaher stock opened at $207.73 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $224.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $245.09. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.34, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share 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 represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.24%.

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.