Freestone Capital Holdings LLC Sells 957 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Freestone Capital Holdings LLC decreased its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 21.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,566 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 957 shares during the quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $819,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DHR. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 4.1% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $342,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. United Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the third quarter worth $230,000. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 5.0% in the third quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 4,660 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,296,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 10.8% in the third quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 1,707 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $475,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, Radnor Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the third quarter worth $591,000. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’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 transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 11.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE:DHR opened at $214.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $153.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $196.80 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The business’s 50-day moving average is $222.89 and its 200 day moving average is $243.43.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 prior year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on DHR shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 price target on Danaher in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim started coverage on Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.