Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Stock Holdings Decreased by Buffington Mohr McNeal

Buffington Mohr McNeal reduced its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 64,039 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,493 shares during the quarter. Danaher makes up about 3.0% of Buffington Mohr McNeal’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Buffington Mohr McNeal’s holdings in Danaher were worth $14,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Drive Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Danaher by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,485 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its stake in Danaher by 0.8% in the first quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 6,064 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,779,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. New Hampshire Trust lifted its stake in Danaher by 0.3% in the third quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 14,438 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,582,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Connolly Sarah T. lifted its stake in Danaher by 0.5% in the third quarter. Connolly Sarah T. now owns 9,599 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,382,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrive Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Danaher by 0.9% in the third quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,496 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,364,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on DHR. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. HSBC began coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 18th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $267.43.

Danaher Stock Performance

Danaher stock traded up $1.17 on Tuesday, hitting $240.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,299,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,676,570. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $249.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $229.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $182.09 and a one year high of $259.00. The firm has a market cap of $178.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 17.26% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.87 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 16.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Teri List sold 3,289 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.32, for a total transaction of $816,724.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,898,360.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Danaher news, Director Teri List sold 3,289 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.32, for a total transaction of $816,724.48. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,898,360.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the company’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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,244 shares in the company, valued at $1,029,891.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,957 shares of company stock worth $8,265,802 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Danaher 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.