Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by CENTRAL TRUST Co

CENTRAL TRUST Co decreased its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 14.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,156 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,553 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Danaher were worth $2,102,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in Danaher by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,231 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 4.4% during the third quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 957 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Danaher by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Well Done LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 3,551 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $987,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 0.9% during the third quarter. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,520 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,257,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value 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 represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Danaher stock opened at $222.56 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $221.34 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The firm has a market cap of $160.75 billion, a PE ratio of 42.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50 day moving average is $235.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $253.08.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released 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 return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 20.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DHR. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Danaher from $309.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

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.