Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC

Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC lowered its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,106 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 90 shares during the period. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of DHR. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,130,740,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $391,172,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Danaher by 6,862.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $213,452,000 after acquiring an additional 916,513 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,105,388 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $712,842,000 after purchasing an additional 749,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Danaher by 29,287.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 588,929 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $135,189,000 after purchasing an additional 586,925 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $190.85 on Thursday. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $136.40 billion, a PE ratio of 36.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $202.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $228.47.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 24.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 price objective (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $274.81.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate 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.