Stack Financial Management Inc Trims Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Stack Financial Management Inc reduced its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 77,543 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 840 shares during the quarter. Danaher accounts for approximately 2.0% of Stack Financial Management Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Stack Financial Management Inc’s holdings in Danaher were worth $17,939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Banco Santander S.A. purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 3rd quarter worth about $683,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Danaher by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 26,611 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,156,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 296,996 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $68,707,000 after acquiring an additional 96,395 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Danaher by 4.8% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,080 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $764,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, Keybank National Association OH increased its position in shares of Danaher by 0.5% during the third quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 553,155 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $137,238,000 after acquiring an additional 2,567 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHR has been the topic of a number of research reports. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. HSBC upgraded shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $270.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total transaction of $636,280.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,029,891.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,908,273.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total transaction of $636,280.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,244 shares in the company, valued at $1,029,891.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 84,132 shares of company stock valued at $21,022,795. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:DHR traded up $1.16 on Friday, hitting $246.96. The stock had a trading volume of 1,231,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,765,696. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $182.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.66, a PEG ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $248.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $230.88. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $182.09 and a 1-year high of $259.00.

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

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. 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. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.