M.D. Sass LLC Sells 20,261 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

M.D. Sass LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 155,987 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 20,261 shares during the period. Danaher comprises about 2.7% of M.D. Sass LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. M.D. Sass LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $35,807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $4,874,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 1,212.8% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $636,000 after buying an additional 2,559 shares in the last quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $8,044,000. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Danaher by 1.3% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 847,348 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $235,583,000 after acquiring an additional 11,216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Compass Capital Management Inc. now owns 237,922 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $54,615,000 after acquiring an additional 10,994 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

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Danaher Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of DHR traded down $3.80 on Friday, reaching $205.99. 1,030,975 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,178,794. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $215.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $237.37. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $196.80 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. 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 issued its 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. This is a boost from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DHR. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $277.00 price objective (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $278.24.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate 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.