WASHINGTON TRUST Co Sells 54 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co reduced its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,641 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 54 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,074,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. acquired a new position in Danaher in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Danaher in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. bought a new stake in Danaher in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. TheStreet raised Danaher from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, December 8th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Raymond James lifted their price target on Danaher from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $215.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $266.00.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR stock traded up $1.37 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $250.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 983,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,739,673. The company has a market cap of $185.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.22, a PEG ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.84. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $182.09 and a 1-year high of $259.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $246.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $230.40. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.18. Danaher had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 17.26%. The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.87 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Danaher’s payout ratio is 15.02%.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, Director Teri List sold 3,289 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total value of $636,280.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,029,891.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Teri List sold 3,289 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 19,726 shares in the company, valued at $4,898,360.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,957 shares of company stock worth $8,265,802 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.