Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Position Lessened by Edgewood Management LLC

Edgewood Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,902,438 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 481,030 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises approximately 3.9% of Edgewood Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Edgewood Management LLC owned 0.82% of Danaher worth $1,354,905,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $181.42 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $181.20 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The company has a market cap of $129.66 billion, a PE ratio of 34.36, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $209.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.99.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company earned $2.09 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on DHR shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.24.

Insider Activity

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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.