Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. Sells 1,830 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 46.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,111 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 1,830 shares during the quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $448,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher by 4.1% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 360.0% during the 3rd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 230 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in Danaher in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $207,000. Pure Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $202,000. Finally, Kanawha Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $217,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on DHR shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $265.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $278.00.

Danaher Trading Up 0.1 %

DHR stock traded up $0.23 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $205.92. The company had a trading volume of 5,652,379 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,574,931. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.00, 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. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $224.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $244.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. This is a boost from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. 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.