Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Position Cut by Abbrea Capital LLC

Abbrea Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,717 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. raised its position in Danaher by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 1,899 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Danaher by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,485 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Trust Investment Advisors raised its position in Danaher by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 2,811 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $650,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Connolly Sarah T. grew its holdings in Danaher by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Connolly Sarah T. now owns 9,599 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,382,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Austin Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,566 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Teri List sold 3,289 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.32, for a total value of $816,724.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,898,360.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Danaher news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.22, for a total transaction of $11,756,953.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,908,273.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Teri List sold 3,289 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.32, for a total transaction of $816,724.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,898,360.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 84,132 shares of company stock valued at $21,022,795. 11.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on DHR. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. HSBC raised shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $250.00 to $280.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $270.00.

Danaher Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:DHR traded up $0.78 on Friday, hitting $246.58. 2,694,445 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,785,746. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $248.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $230.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.37. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $182.09 and a 52 week high of $259.00. The company has a market cap of $182.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.62 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 11.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.36 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.31%.

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.