Brian W. Ellis Sells 5,700 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Stock

Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR traded down $0.52 on Friday, reaching $222.56. The company had a trading volume of 4,785,829 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,684,308. The company has a fifty day moving average of $235.66 and a 200-day moving average of $253.24. The company has a market capitalization of $160.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.15, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $221.34 and a one year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 10.72%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.45%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Danaher

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

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.