B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Sells 2,651 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 26.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,351 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 2,651 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,689,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its position in Danaher by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DHR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Danaher from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $263.24.

Danaher Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:DHR traded up $1.37 on Thursday, hitting $190.38. 2,814,467 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,470,766. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. The company's 50-day moving average price is $193.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $214.49.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.58 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Danaher's payout ratio is 24.85%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total value of $245,925,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.