Blair William & Co. IL Sells 47,116 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Blair William & Co. IL cut its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,717,881 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 47,116 shares during the period. Danaher comprises 1.1% of Blair William & Co. IL’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Blair William & Co. IL owned 0.24% of Danaher worth $394,340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Danaher by 63.3% in the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of DHR stock opened at $210.15 on Thursday. 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 company has a market cap of $150.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.80, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $196.80 and a 1-year high of $281.70. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $215.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $237.56.

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

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.24%.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’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 directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on DHR shares. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.24.

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.