Danaher Corporation $DHR Stock Position Lifted by Rockland Trust Co.

Rockland Trust Co. lifted its position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 77.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,267 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,607 shares during the quarter. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,639,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DHR. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in Danaher during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the third quarter worth about $37,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Teri List sold 3,298 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.50, for a total transaction of $746,997.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,762 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,702,593. This trade represents a 13.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 11.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on DHR. HSBC lifted their target price on Danaher from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays increased their target price on Danaher from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $254.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $253.86.

Danaher Stock Performance

DHR stock opened at $219.66 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $229.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $215.37. The company has a market capitalization of $155.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.58, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Danaher Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $171.00 and a fifty-two week high of $242.80.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.79 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 14.71% and a return on equity of 10.81%. Danaher’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 25.40%.

About Danaher

Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) is a global science and technology company that designs, manufactures and markets products and services for the life sciences, diagnostics, and environmental and applied markets. The company organizes its operations into business segments focused on Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental & Applied Solutions, supplying instruments, reagents, software and related services that support research, clinical testing, biopharmaceutical development, and industrial and environmental monitoring.

Products and services in Danaher’s portfolio include analytical and diagnostic instruments, laboratory consumables and reagents, digital and software solutions for workflow and data management, field and industrial monitoring equipment, and service and maintenance programs.