Summit Global Investments Decreases Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Summit Global Investments decreased its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 20.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,753 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 449 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Danaher were worth $406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. Banco Santander S.A. bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the third quarter valued at about $683,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 26,611 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,156,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Cercano Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Cercano Management LLC now owns 202,569 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $46,862,000 after purchasing an additional 20,715 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 296,996 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $68,707,000 after buying an additional 96,395 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Danaher by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,080 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $764,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,908,273.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Danaher news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.22, for a total value of $11,756,953.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,908,273.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Teri List sold 3,289 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.32, for a total transaction of $816,724.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,898,360.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 107,273 shares of company stock valued at $26,813,819 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Danaher stock opened at $248.38 on Monday. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $182.09 and a twelve month 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 company has a market capitalization of $183.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.10, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $248.48 and its 200 day moving average is $232.60.

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

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 18.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DHR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James raised their price target on Danaher from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. HSBC raised shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $267.31.

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.