Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc lowered its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 47.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,765 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 6,030 shares during the quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,555,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Danaher by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Danaher Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:DHR opened at $209.27 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $149.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.63, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $196.80 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The business has a fifty day moving average of $225.41 and a 200-day moving average of $245.78.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (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 period last year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on DHR shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America raised shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.