Private Advisor Group LLC Decreases Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Private Advisor Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 20.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,382 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 10,667 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $9,342,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the third quarter worth approximately $683,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 26,611 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,156,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Cercano Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Cercano Management LLC now owns 202,569 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $46,862,000 after purchasing an additional 20,715 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Danaher by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 296,996 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $68,707,000 after purchasing an additional 96,395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Danaher by 4.8% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,080 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $764,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. HSBC upgraded Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Raymond James raised their price target on Danaher from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $267.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Alan G. Spoon sold 708 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total transaction of $172,454.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 116,202 shares in the company, valued at $28,304,483.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Alan G. Spoon sold 708 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total transaction of $172,454.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 116,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,304,483.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,029,891.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 103,984 shares of company stock valued at $25,997,094. 10.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Trading Up 0.2 %

DHR stock traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $247.99. The stock had a trading volume of 703,587 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,733,199. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $248.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $232.89. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $182.09 and a 1-year high of $259.00. The firm has a market cap of $183.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.36 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 18.31%.

Danaher Company 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.