Avalon Capital Management Decreases Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Avalon Capital Management cut its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 12.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,265 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 450 shares during the period. Avalon Capital Management’s holdings in Danaher were worth $749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of DHR stock opened at $211.23 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $226.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $246.44. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $196.80 and a twelve month high of $281.70. The company has a market capitalization of $150.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.01, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 price target on Danaher in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price target for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. 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 company insiders.

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.