Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,393,106 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 350,696 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 1.02% of Danaher worth $1,697,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on DHR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank started 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. Finally, Bank of America raised Danaher from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $290.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $278.24.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DHR traded up $4.84 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $205.23. The stock had a trading volume of 2,973,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,194,187. The company has a 50 day moving average of $213.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $235.39. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $196.80 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 firm has a market cap of $146.68 billion, a PE ratio of 38.87, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. This is a boost from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher's payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Insider Activity

In other Danaher 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

About Danaher

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.