Violich Capital Management Inc. Sells 8,400 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Violich Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,099 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 8,400 shares during the period. Danaher accounts for about 1.1% of Violich Capital Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Violich Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $8,516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $6,566,116,000 after buying an additional 3,217,631 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,097,986 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,417,342,000 after buying an additional 148,251 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,552,640 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,265,725,000 after buying an additional 116,299 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Danaher by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,582,982 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $996,141,000 after purchasing an additional 535,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Danaher by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,715,826 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $382,936,000 after purchasing an additional 9,942 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on DHR shares. KeyCorp increased their target price on Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays cut their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Danaher from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $278.00.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR stock traded up $3.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $206.66. The stock had a trading volume of 4,791,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,481,736. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $196.80 and a one year high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $230.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $249.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.14, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 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 last year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.45%.

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.