Harmony Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Harmony Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,594 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $366,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,005,442. The trade was a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 3,105,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $611,036,665.92. The trade was a 28.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Down 5.7%

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $186.50 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $171.00 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $196.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $216.57.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 24.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on DHR shares. StockNews.com upgraded Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $263.24.

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.