Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Sage Mountain Advisors LLC

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,892 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 242 shares during the quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $664,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $206.01 on Wednesday. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $196.80 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The company has a market capitalization of $147.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $221.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $241.74. 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 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 company earned $2.09 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given 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 0.62%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com cut Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.00.

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.