Sanctuary Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,933 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 2,222 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $17,832,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Danaher during the third quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Danaher during the third quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher 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 of the company's stock, valued at $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 available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE:DHR traded up $1.91 on Friday, hitting $209.86. The stock had a trading volume of 6,209,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,574,762. The stock has a market cap of $151.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.83. 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 business's 50-day simple moving average is $226.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $247.11. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 previous year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. This is a boost from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on DHR. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Danaher from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $278.00.

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.