Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Stock Holdings Cut by Sandy Spring Bank

Sandy Spring Bank reduced its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 76,277 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,804 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises 0.7% of Sandy Spring Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Danaher were worth $17,509,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,749 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. raised its position in Danaher by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 7,390 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,696,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA raised its position in Danaher by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its position in Danaher by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spinnaker Trust raised its position in Danaher by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 4,304 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $988,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $209.90 on Thursday. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $196.80 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $218.48 and a 200-day moving average of $239.46.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 last year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on DHR shares. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.76.

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.