Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Buffington Mohr McNeal

Buffington Mohr McNeal lowered its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 63,590 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 449 shares during the quarter. Danaher accounts for about 2.9% of Buffington Mohr McNeal’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Buffington Mohr McNeal’s holdings in Danaher were worth $15,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,928,442 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,460,966,000 after buying an additional 2,998,161 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 16,757,558 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,876,694,000 after buying an additional 1,619,586 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,956,519 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,691,735,000 after buying an additional 1,334,781 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,752,382,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,620,170 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,531,510,000 after buying an additional 395,498 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on DHR shares. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $295.00 price objective on the stock. HSBC raised shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $268.67.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR traded down $4.10 on Tuesday, hitting $240.41. The company had a trading volume of 5,067,735 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,876,110. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $182.09 and a 1-year high of $269.11. The stock has a market cap of $178.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $256.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $246.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. Danaher had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 11.43%. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.36 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.31%.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.00, for a total value of $2,386,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,990 shares in the company, valued at $28,352,350. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.00, for a total value of $2,386,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,990 shares in the company, valued at $28,352,350. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total transaction of $1,000,040.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 29,830 shares in the company, valued at $7,457,798.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 148,783 shares of company stock worth $37,536,717. Corporate insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

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.