Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Covey Capital Advisors LLC

Covey Capital Advisors LLC decreased its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,473 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 369 shares during the quarter. Danaher makes up 1.2% of Covey Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Covey Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on DHR shares. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Danaher Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:DHR opened at $208.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $150.31 billion, a PE ratio of 39.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $227.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $247.52.

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, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 20.45%.

Danaher 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.