Haverford Trust Co Lowers Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Haverford Trust Co cut its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,137 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 595 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Danaher were worth $3,245,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $342,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Danaher by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 1,646 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Danaher by 212.5% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,753 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $765,000 after purchasing an additional 1,872 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 8,932 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,483,000 after buying an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,552,640 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,265,725,000 after buying an additional 116,299 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $212.97 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $152.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.33, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $216.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $238.13. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $196.80 and a 12-month high of $281.70.

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

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s payout ratio is 24.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DHR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by 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.