Black Diamond Financial LLC Decreases Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Black Diamond Financial LLC cut its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 917 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 55 shares during the period. Black Diamond Financial LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $211,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. South Dakota Investment Council raised its position in Danaher by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 12,682 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,911,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc. raised its position in Danaher by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 2,726 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $626,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Delta Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,061,000. Cabot Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 53.5% during the fourth quarter. Cabot Wealth Management Inc. now owns 41,595 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $9,548,000 after buying an additional 14,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MONECO Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 1,502 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Up 0.9 %

Danaher stock opened at $209.86 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $226.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $246.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $151.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $196.80 and a twelve month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on DHR. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 target price (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

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.