Argent Trust Co Cuts Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Argent Trust Co reduced its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,334 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 78 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Danaher were worth $7,829,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the second quarter worth about $363,000. Caden Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in Danaher by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Caden Capital Partners LP now owns 139,068 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $32,172,000 after purchasing an additional 15,313 shares in the last quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd raised its holdings in Danaher by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 572,858 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $132,524,000 after purchasing an additional 55,908 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $2,614,000. Finally, Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in Danaher during the first quarter worth about $4,151,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Danaher news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total transaction of $255,488.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,130,374.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total value of $255,488.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,130,374.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 9,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.16, for a total transaction of $2,641,536.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,566,486.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,659 shares of company stock valued at $11,042,433 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $272.48 on Wednesday. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $182.09 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $265.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $256.78. The firm has a market cap of $201.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.43.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 11.06%. Danaher’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.05 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DHR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Danaher from $271.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Leerink Partners increased their price target on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.94.

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.