Wedbush Securities Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Wedbush Securities Inc. cut its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,358 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 337 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its holdings in Danaher by 11.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,202 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 2,559 shares during the last quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $8,044,000. Compass Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Danaher by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Compass Capital Management Inc. now owns 237,922 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $54,615,000 after purchasing an additional 10,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Channing Global Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. Channing Global Advisors LLC now owns 5,666 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,301,000 after buying an additional 1,698 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on DHR shares. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. Bank of America raised 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. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.24.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE:DHR opened at $181.42 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.66 billion, a PE ratio of 34.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $209.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $233.73. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $165.17 and a 12 month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its 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 return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.