Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Cable Hill Partners LLC

Cable Hill Partners LLC decreased its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 29.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 977 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 414 shares during the quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DHR. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher by 15.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,566,116,000 after purchasing an additional 3,217,631 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Danaher by 6,862.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $213,452,000 after purchasing an additional 916,513 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Danaher by 17.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,582,982 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $996,141,000 after purchasing an additional 535,254 shares during the period. Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at about $120,718,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Danaher by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,589,019 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,971,609,000 after purchasing an additional 441,012 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Danaher stock opened at $205.69 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $225.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $245.50. The company has a market capitalization of $147.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $196.80 and a 1 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 results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s payout ratio is 24.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price target (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.00.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.