Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC Sells 8,595 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 88,349 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 8,595 shares during the period. Danaher comprises about 1.1% of Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $20,400,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,874,000 after acquiring an additional 2,202 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher by 1,212.8% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 2,559 shares in the last quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth about $8,044,000. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Danaher by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 847,348 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $235,583,000 after buying an additional 11,216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Danaher by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Compass Capital Management Inc. now owns 237,922 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $54,615,000 after buying an additional 10,994 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $212.36 on Wednesday. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $216.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $237.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 previous year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on DHR. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.24.

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.