Sigma Planning Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Sigma Planning Corp trimmed its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 39.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,336 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 3,521 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Banco Santander S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the third quarter valued at about $683,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 26,611 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,156,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 296,996 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $68,707,000 after acquiring an additional 96,395 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 4.8% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,080 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $764,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keybank National Association OH increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 0.5% during the third quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 553,155 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $137,238,000 after acquiring an additional 2,567 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, Director Teri List sold 3,289 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.32, for a total value of $816,724.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,898,360.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Danaher news, Director Teri List sold 3,289 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.32, for a total value of $816,724.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,898,360.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total value of $5,986,764.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,601,704. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,957 shares of company stock worth $8,265,802. Corporate insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DHR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. HSBC upgraded shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $280.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Danaher from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $268.27.

Danaher Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $236.08 on Tuesday. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $182.09 and a 1 year high of $259.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $248.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $230.39.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.18. Danaher had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 17.26%. The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.87 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.90%.

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.