Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Huntington National Bank

Huntington National Bank cut its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,510 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 5,196 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Danaher were worth $16,645,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC raised 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 buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 company’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 represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $205.23 on Thursday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $212.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $235.18. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $196.34 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The company has a market capitalization of $146.68 billion, a PE ratio of 38.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly 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 in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase 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 yield of 0.62%. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on DHR shares. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 price objective (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.24.

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.