Avitas Wealth Management LLC Sells 143 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Avitas Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,845 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 143 shares during the quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $4,785,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher during the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective for the company. Barclays reduced their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $309.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price target (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 10.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Danaher Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of DHR opened at $215.05 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $234.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $252.88. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $210.04 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $155.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share 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 earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.45%.

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.