Greenleaf Trust Trims Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Greenleaf Trust trimmed its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 95,037 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 7,257 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Danaher were worth $21,986,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,764 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,333,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. raised its holdings in Danaher by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 3,462 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $801,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,902 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,988,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. HTLF Bank purchased a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $580,000. Finally, Lafayette Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Danaher by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 7,957 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,841,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Trading Down 0.4 %

DHR stock traded down $0.99 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $235.37. The stock had a trading volume of 2,351,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,723,232. The firm has a market cap of $174.30 billion, a PE ratio of 36.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 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. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $182.09 and a 12-month high of $259.00. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $249.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $229.90.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 17.26% and a return on equity of 12.25%. Danaher’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.87 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 16.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on DHR shares. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. HSBC upgraded shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Danaher from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently 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 business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were 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 approximately $1,029,891.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total transaction of $5,986,764.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,601,704. 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 Danaher stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $1,029,891.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,957 shares of company stock valued at $8,265,802 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.10% 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.