Kennedy Capital Management LLC Sells 2,817 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,349 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 2,817 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $11,328,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,130,740,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at $391,172,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Danaher by 6,862.7% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $213,452,000 after acquiring an additional 916,513 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,105,388 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $712,842,000 after buying an additional 749,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 29,287.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 588,929 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $135,189,000 after purchasing an additional 586,925 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 20,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on DHR shares. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $277.00 target price (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays raised Danaher from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $240.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $276.57.

Danaher Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of DHR traded up $3.07 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $192.99. 1,773,211 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,319,233. The company has a market cap of $137.93 billion, a PE ratio of 36.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $202.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $228.73. 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 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher's payout ratio is 24.24%.

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.