Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Middleton & Co. Inc. MA

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA decreased its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 77,169 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 5,875 shares during the quarter. Danaher accounts for approximately 2.0% of Middleton & Co. Inc. MA's portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA's holdings in Danaher were worth $17,714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Danaher by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 9,166 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $2,104,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC grew its stake in Danaher by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 3,897 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $895,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in Danaher by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 40,837 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $9,374,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Danaher by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 551,994 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $126,711,000 after acquiring an additional 43,223 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Danaher by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,578,945 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,051,097,000 after acquiring an additional 26,305 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $277.00 price target (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Danaher Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:DHR traded up $0.23 on Tuesday, reaching $205.92. 5,652,379 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,574,931. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a fifty day moving average of $223.61 and a 200-day moving average of $243.86. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is an increase from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Danaher's payout ratio is currently 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.