Sandhill Capital Partners LLC Has $22.62 Million Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Sandhill Capital Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 98,520 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 4,271 shares during the quarter. Danaher accounts for about 1.8% of Sandhill Capital Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $22,615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Danaher by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $13,715,641,000 after acquiring an additional 315,912 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,056,996,000 after acquiring an additional 315,446 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,589,019 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,971,609,000 after acquiring an additional 441,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,578,945 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,051,097,000 after buying an additional 26,305 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company's stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR traded up $7.99 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $188.75. The company had a trading volume of 4,764,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,319,341. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $203.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $229.58. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $171.00 and a twelve month high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $134.90 billion, a PE ratio of 35.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is a boost from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is 24.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on DHR. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Scotiabank began coverage on Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays raised shares of Danaher from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $240.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Guggenheim began coverage on Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $276.57.

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.