First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Lowers Stake in Danaher Corporation $DHR

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 1.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,546 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 717 shares during the period. Danaher accounts for about 1.6% of First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $8,207,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hills Bank & Trust Co lifted its holdings in Danaher by 0.3% during the first quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 18,015 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,693,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher by 4.6% during the second quarter. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Sageworth Trust Co lifted its holdings in Danaher by 2.3% during the first quarter. Sageworth Trust Co now owns 2,404 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $493,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. lifted its holdings in Danaher by 3.3% during the first quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 1,666 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 13.1% during the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 467 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $202.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $200.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $197.25. Danaher Corporation has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $279.41. The company has a market cap of $145.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.09, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.77.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.16. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 14.21%.The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.72 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Danaher has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.700-7.800 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 26th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 26th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, Director Teri List sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.06, for a total value of $586,324.68. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,379,706.06. This represents a 11.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DHR. Wall Street Zen raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Danaher from $210.00 to $205.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank raised Danaher from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $275.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $220.00 price target (down from $245.00) on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $244.60.

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.