Vestor Capital LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Vestor Capital LLC lessened its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 11.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 334 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 42 shares during the quarter. Vestor Capital LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $77,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 37,050 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,571,000 after acquiring an additional 3,910 shares during the period. Zevin Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Danaher by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Zevin Asset Management LLC now owns 61,680 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $14,269,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160 shares during the period. US Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth $1,285,000. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $750,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 276.8% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,010 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,390,000 after buying an additional 4,415 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on DHR. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. KeyCorp upped their target price on Danaher from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Danaher from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $267.31.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total value of $5,986,764.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,102 shares in the company, valued at $9,601,704. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Danaher news, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total value of $5,986,764.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,102 shares in the company, valued at $9,601,704. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Alan G. Spoon sold 708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total transaction of $172,454.64. Following the sale, the director now owns 116,202 shares in the company, valued at $28,304,483.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 103,984 shares of company stock valued at $25,997,094 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE DHR traded up $1.93 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $251.48. 1,604,343 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,716,949. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.62, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $182.09 and a twelve month high of $259.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.85. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $248.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $233.30.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.62 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 16.78%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.31%.

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.