Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Sells 5,857 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. cut its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 230,168 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 5,857 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $52,835,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 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 worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Danaher stock opened at $193.10 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.19 billion, a PE ratio of 36.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $171.00 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $198.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $220.49. 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 (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,005,442. The trade was a 51.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $264.40.

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.