Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 12.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,054 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 281 shares during the quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of Danaher by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 42,796 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $9,824,000 after buying an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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. Quilter Plc raised its position in Danaher by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 62,371 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $14,317,000 after purchasing an additional 2,746 shares in the last quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $829,000. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,229 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $971,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s 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 approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 1.6 %

DHR opened at $203.42 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $203.00 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $232.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $251.61. The stock has a market cap of $146.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 20.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank started coverage on Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price target on Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.