AlphaQuest LLC Trims Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

AlphaQuest LLC lowered its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 97.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 165 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 6,816 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $38,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 63.3% in the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

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 value of $1,277,541.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 10.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Trading Down 0.1 %

DHR opened at $210.14 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $196.80 and a one year high of $281.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.19 billion, a PE ratio of 39.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $217.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $239.26. 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 (NYSE:DHR) last released 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 return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.32 dividend. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DHR. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price target (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Guggenheim began coverage on Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.76.

Danaher 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.