DRW Securities LLC Sells 2,200 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

DRW Securities LLC lowered its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 71.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 881 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 2,200 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $202,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its position in Danaher by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Danaher from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $274.81.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of Danaher stock traded down $2.56 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $188.11. 1,645,242 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,319,984. The stock has a market capitalization of $134.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.59, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $202.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $228.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $171.00 and a 12-month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS 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 paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Danaher's payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Insider Activity

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 value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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.