Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Flputnam Investment Management Co.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. reduced its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 13.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,048 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,884 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $4,372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 63.3% in the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DHR. Guggenheim began coverage on Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” 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 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR opened at $207.73 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $224.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $244.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.47 billion, a PE ratio of 39.34, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $196.80 and a 1 year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) 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 previous year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share 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 $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. 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 presently 24.24%.

About Danaher

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.