Howard Capital Management Group LLC Cuts Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Howard Capital Management Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 10.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,106 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 123 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its stake in Danaher by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,874,000 after buying an additional 2,202 shares during the period. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. increased its stake in Danaher by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 9,597 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,203,000 after buying an additional 1,639 shares during the period. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd purchased a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,591,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Danaher by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,066,755 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $933,524,000 after buying an additional 135,047 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Danaher by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 254,327 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $58,308,000 after buying an additional 49,964 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total value of $245,925,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DHR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. HSBC dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $265.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Danaher currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $248.17.

Danaher Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $200.51 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $143.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $192.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $171.00 and a 1-year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. Sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

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.