Stevens Capital Management LP Sells 802 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Stevens Capital Management LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 29.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,892 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 802 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in Danaher were worth $434,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its stake in Danaher by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Stonebrook Private Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at about $228,000. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its stake in Danaher by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 1,646 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $458,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Danaher by 212.5% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,753 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $765,000 after acquiring an additional 1,872 shares during the period. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its stake in Danaher by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 8,932 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,483,000 after acquiring an additional 996 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $211.63 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $196.80 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $217.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $238.50. The company has a market capitalization of $151.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.08, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DHR. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim started coverage on Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.