Eads & Heald Wealth Management Cuts Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Eads & Heald Wealth Management lessened its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,049 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 81 shares during the period. Eads & Heald Wealth Management’s holdings in Danaher were worth $2,093,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. acquired a new position in Danaher in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher during the third quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of DHR traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $239.66. The company had a trading volume of 2,695,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,695,242. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $249.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $229.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $182.09 and a 1 year high of $259.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.68.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.18. The business 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%. The company’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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 16.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on DHR shares. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Danaher from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Citigroup increased their target price 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $267.43.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, Director Teri List sold 3,289 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.32, for a total value of $816,724.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,898,360.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,102 shares in the company, valued at $9,601,704. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 value of $816,724.48. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,898,360.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,957 shares of company stock valued at $8,265,802 over the last three months. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.