Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Cuts Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC cut its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,033 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 113 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,385,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Stock Down 0.2 %

DHR stock opened at $210.65 on Wednesday. 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 12 month low of $196.80 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.56 billion, a PE ratio of 39.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $225.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $246.04.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share 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 in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 24.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DHR. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.