Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,890 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 184 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $3,189,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,566,116,000 after acquiring an additional 3,217,631 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 3.0% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 148,251 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Danaher by 2.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,552,640 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,265,725,000 after purchasing an additional 116,299 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Danaher by 17.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,582,982 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $996,141,000 after buying an additional 535,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Danaher by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,715,826 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $382,936,000 after buying an additional 9,942 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 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 approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 10.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DHR shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Danaher Stock Down 1.4 %

Danaher stock opened at $211.92 on Thursday. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $210.04 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The stock has a market cap of $153.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.14, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $234.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $252.68. 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 (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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. On average, analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. 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.