Simmons Bank Lowers Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Simmons Bank lowered its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,913 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 338 shares during the period. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Danaher were worth $5,532,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Danaher by 18.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,930,281 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,185,203,000 after buying an additional 3,905,449 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,100,722 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,009,789,000 after purchasing an additional 134,905 shares in the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 4,601,351 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,064,477,000 after buying an additional 82,672 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,227,108 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $977,900,000 after purchasing an additional 248,140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Danaher by 13.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,070,455 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,009,880,000 after acquiring an additional 473,693 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total value of $636,280.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,029,891.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.22, for a total transaction of $11,756,953.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,908,273.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total transaction of $636,280.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,029,891.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 103,984 shares of company stock valued at $25,997,094. Company insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on DHR. HSBC upgraded shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Bank of America lifted 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 nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $267.31.

Danaher Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE DHR traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $249.27. The company had a trading volume of 820,290 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,722,104. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $182.09 and a 1-year high of $259.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $248.27 and its 200-day moving average is $233.19.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.20. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 16.78%. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.36 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.31%.

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.