Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Raises Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. raised its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 540.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,211 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 48,278 shares during the period. Danaher accounts for 1.5% of Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $13,235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 18.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,930,281 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,185,203,000 after acquiring an additional 3,905,449 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Danaher by 1.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,100,722 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,009,789,000 after purchasing an additional 134,905 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $1,752,382,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,620,170 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,531,510,000 after buying an additional 395,498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch AG grew its stake in Danaher by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 4,601,351 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,064,477,000 after acquiring an additional 82,672 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE DHR traded up $1.23 during trading on Friday, hitting $262.63. 2,089,005 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,693,784. The company has a market cap of $194.53 billion, a PE ratio of 44.31, a P/E/G ratio of 4.09 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $182.09 and a fifty-two week high of $268.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $249.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $238.20.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 16.78%. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.36 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect 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 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 18.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.00, for a total value of $2,386,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,352,350. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total value of $1,000,040.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 29,830 shares in the company, valued at $7,457,798.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.00, for a total value of $2,386,325.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,352,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 172,540 shares of company stock valued at $43,523,481. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on DHR shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $267.31.

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.