Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Holdings Lowered by Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. cut its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,278 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 128 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Value Partners Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $215,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 170,217 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $39,482,000 after purchasing an additional 4,168 shares in the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY boosted its holdings in Danaher by 108.2% during the third quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 56,346 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $13,979,000 after buying an additional 29,289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, River Street Advisors LLC grew its position in Danaher by 19.8% in the third quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 1,622 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR opened at $247.40 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $182.09 and a 1 year high of $259.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $248.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $232.89. The stock has a market cap of $183.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.93, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.62 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 16.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.36 EPS. Analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 18.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DHR. Barclays increased their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Danaher from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $267.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, Director Alan G. Spoon sold 708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total value of $172,454.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 116,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,304,483.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Joakim Weidemanis sold 22,433 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.46, for a total value of $5,618,569.18. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 90,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,644,589.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Alan G. Spoon sold 708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total transaction of $172,454.64. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 116,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,304,483.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 103,984 shares of company stock worth $25,997,094. Corporate insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

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.