Cambridge Trust Co. Increases Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Cambridge Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,438 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,233 shares during the period. Cambridge Trust Co.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $17,221,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Fairfield Bush & CO. raised its stake in Danaher by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,840 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,420,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its position in shares of Danaher by 19.3% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,468 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $724,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Danaher by 76.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 495 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Danaher by 14.1% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 31,530 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $9,248,000 after buying an additional 3,897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP raised its position in shares of Danaher by 135.9% during the first quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 35,270 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,346,000 after buying an additional 20,320 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 1.4 %

Danaher stock traded down $3.24 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $236.15. The stock had a trading volume of 2,674,049 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,705,003. The company has a market cap of $174.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.46, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $249.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $229.86. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $182.09 and a 52 week high of $259.00.

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

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 16.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $268.27.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total value of $636,280.74. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total value of $5,986,764.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,601,704. 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 over the last 90 days. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.