Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by GAM Holding AG

GAM Holding AG lowered its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,916 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 1,406 shares during the period. GAM Holding AG's holdings in Danaher were worth $2,965,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 63.3% in 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on DHR shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Danaher from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $290.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Danaher from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Danaher from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $285.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR traded up $1.91 on Friday, hitting $209.86. The company had a trading volume of 6,209,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,574,762. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The business has a 50 day moving average of $226.71 and a 200 day moving average of $247.11. The company has a market cap of $151.58 billion, a PE ratio of 39.75, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 prior year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is an increase from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is 20.45%.

Danaher Company 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.