Rothschild Investment LLC Cuts Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Rothschild Investment LLC cut its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,160 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 287 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the third quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price target (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Guggenheim started coverage on Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $211.23 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $196.80 and a 1-year high of $281.70. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $226.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $246.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.97 billion, a PE ratio of 40.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share 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 last year, the firm 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

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.