Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Sells 104 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI trimmed its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,836 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 104 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Danaher were worth $3,865,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on DHR. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $206.01 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $147.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50-day moving average is $221.55 and its 200 day moving average is $241.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $196.80 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.10% 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.