Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. reduced its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,109 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 443 shares during the quarter. Danaher makes up about 2.9% of Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $15,634,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Danaher by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $206.66 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.26 billion, a PE ratio of 39.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $229.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $249.13. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $196.80 and a twelve month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DHR. Wolfe Research raised Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Danaher has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

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.