Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,575,076 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 52,526 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC owned 0.22% of Danaher worth $375,010,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Stock Down 2.1 %

Danaher stock opened at $205.69 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $214.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $236.64. The firm has a market cap of $147.01 billion, a PE ratio of 38.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $196.80 and a twelve month high of $281.70. 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 (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 last year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Guggenheim assumed 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.24.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This represents 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. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.