Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Position Raised by Howland Capital Management LLC

Howland Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 177,427 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the period. Danaher accounts for about 2.1% of Howland Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $44,354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.4% during the first quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 2,880 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $719,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 3.0% during the first quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 1,442 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 1,899 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 3,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $803,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Berger Financial Group Inc grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 2,517 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on DHR. Barclays lifted their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. HSBC raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Danaher from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $268.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total value of $1,000,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,457,798.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,783 shares of company stock worth $37,536,717 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE:DHR traded up $4.07 on Thursday, hitting $246.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,793,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,861,634. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $255.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $247.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $182.09 and a one year high of $269.11.

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

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 18.31%.

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.