Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Sells 5,875 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA lowered its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 77,169 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 5,875 shares during the quarter. Danaher makes up about 2.0% of Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Danaher were worth $17,714,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its position in shares of Danaher by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,874,000 after buying an additional 2,202 shares during the period. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC boosted its position in Danaher by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC now owns 238,092 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $66,194,000 after acquiring an additional 7,421 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Danaher by 1,212.8% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $636,000 after acquiring an additional 2,559 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Danaher by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 202,263 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $56,233,000 after acquiring an additional 2,465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Generate Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,044,000. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $207.73 on Friday. The firm has a market cap 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’s 50 day moving average is $224.58 and its 200 day moving average is $245.09. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DHR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 target price (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays reduced their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

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.