VeraBank N.A. Has $2.27 Million Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

VeraBank N.A. trimmed its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,811 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises 0.8% of VeraBank N.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. VeraBank N.A.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $2,270,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Danaher during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on DHR shares. StockNews.com cut Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays raised their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. HSBC upgraded Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $267.31.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR stock traded up $1.54 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $248.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,787,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,914,990. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $182.09 and a fifty-two week high of $259.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $248.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $232.27. The company has a market capitalization of $183.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.10, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 EPS 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 business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.36 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.31%.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other news, Director Teri List sold 3,289 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.32, for a total value of $816,724.48. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,898,360.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.22, for a total value of $11,756,953.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 available through the SEC website. Also, Director Teri List sold 3,289 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,898,360.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 107,273 shares of company stock worth $26,813,819. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

About Danaher

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.