Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,204,476 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 39,874 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.17% of Danaher worth $276,487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,749 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. raised its stake in Danaher by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 7,390 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,696,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA lifted its holdings in Danaher by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in Danaher by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spinnaker Trust increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 4,304 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $988,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. 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 price target of $278.24.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE DHR traded down $16.49 on Friday, hitting $181.42. 7,117,117 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,229,595. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.66 billion, a PE ratio of 34.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $181.20 and a 1-year high of $281.70. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $209.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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 period last year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Danaher Company 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.