Vestcor Inc Sells 1,053 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Vestcor Inc lessened its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,898 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,053 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Danaher were worth $3,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $203.96 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’s 50-day moving average price is $220.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $241.22. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $196.80 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The stock has a market cap of $145.77 billion, a PE ratio of 38.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued 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 return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.32 per share. 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 0.63%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on DHR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 target price (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.00.

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.