Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 109 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,075 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 109 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the third quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $1,277,541.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DHR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.24.

Danaher Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $211.63 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The stock has a market cap of $151.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.08, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $217.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $238.68.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.24%.

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.