Sigma Planning Corp Sells 1,058 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Sigma Planning Corp cut its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,058 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Danaher were worth $2,351,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new position in Danaher during the third quarter worth $5,923,000. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 4.1% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management raised its holdings in Danaher by 1.0% during the third quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 8,161 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,269,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Danaher by 6.1% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,337 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,484,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Danaher by 3.8% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 79,222 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $21,821,000 after buying an additional 2,879 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $209.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $151.58 billion, a PE ratio of 39.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $226.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $246.84.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued 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 net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the 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 $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on DHR shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.00.

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.