Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Crestwood Advisors Group LLC

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC decreased its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 330,306 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,942 shares during the quarter. Danaher accounts for approximately 1.4% of Crestwood Advisors Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $75,822,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Danaher by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 6,951 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 2,454 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council grew its position in shares of Danaher by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 12,682 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,911,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. raised its stake in Danaher by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 2,726 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $626,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Finally, Delta Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $1,061,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $209.86 on Monday. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $196.80 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $226.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $246.84. The stock has a market cap of $149.99 billion, a PE ratio of 39.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com cut Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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.