Appleton Partners Inc. MA Sells 141 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA cut its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 51,364 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 141 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Danaher were worth $11,791,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,231 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC raised its position in Danaher by 4.4% in the third quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 957 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 3.4% during the third quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Well Done LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.2% in the third quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 3,551 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $987,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,520 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,257,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $206.92 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $205.79 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.45 billion, a PE ratio of 39.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $233.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $252.10. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. Analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 20.45%.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DHR has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $309.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 target price (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

About Danaher

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.