United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Sells 1,283 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 103,385 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,283 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $23,732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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 company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This represents 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 this link. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR stock opened at $193.02 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $137.95 billion, a PE ratio of 36.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $203.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $229.00. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $171.00 and a one year high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DHR. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays upgraded Danaher from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $240.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $276.57.

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.