Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Convergence Financial LLC

Convergence Financial LLC lessened its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 20.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,020 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 257 shares during the quarter. Convergence Financial LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $234,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of DHR. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,874,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares during the period. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Danaher by 3.2% during the third quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC now owns 238,092 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $66,194,000 after acquiring an additional 7,421 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher by 1,212.8% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $636,000 after acquiring an additional 2,559 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. boosted its stake in Danaher by 1.2% in the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 202,263 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $56,233,000 after acquiring an additional 2,465 shares during the period. Finally, Generate Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,044,000. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $205.69 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $225.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $245.50. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $196.80 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The firm has a market cap of $147.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 24.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup cut their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

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.