Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Purchased by Cannell & Co.

Cannell & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 98,639 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 865 shares during the quarter. Cannell & Co.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $22,819,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Danaher Trading Down 0.5 %

Danaher stock traded down $1.19 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $245.43. The company had a trading volume of 834,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,762,017. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $248.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $231.79. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $182.09 and a 1-year high of $259.00. The stock has a market cap of $181.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.36 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Joakim Weidemanis sold 22,433 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.46, for a total transaction of $5,618,569.18. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 90,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,644,589.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Joakim Weidemanis sold 22,433 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.46, for a total value of $5,618,569.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 90,412 shares in the company, valued at $22,644,589.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total transaction of $1,000,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,830 shares in the company, valued at $7,457,798.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 106,565 shares of company stock worth $26,641,364 in the last ninety days. 10.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on DHR shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. KeyCorp raised their price target 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. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.64.

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.