Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Flputnam Investment Management Co.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. lessened its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 13.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,048 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 2,884 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $4,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Milestones Administradora de Recursos Ltda. grew its stake in Danaher by 133.3% in the fourth quarter. Milestones Administradora de Recursos Ltda. now owns 3,500 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $803,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Tufton Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 15,876 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,644,000 after purchasing an additional 4,098 shares in the last quarter. Davis Rea LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 156.3% during the fourth quarter. Davis Rea LTD. now owns 41,428 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $9,521,000 after purchasing an additional 25,261 shares in the last quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd increased its holdings in Danaher by 60.4% during the fourth quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd now owns 1,290 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 486 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Security Advisor Inc. raised its stake in Danaher by 27.4% in the fourth quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 4,207 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $966,000 after buying an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DHR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank began coverage on Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $265.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $278.00.

Danaher Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of DHR traded up $3.63 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $209.54. 1,890,589 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,509,829. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $196.80 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The company has a market cap of $149.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The stock's 50-day moving average is $223.61 and its 200-day moving average is $243.86.

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, 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is a boost from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company 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.