Argent Trust Co Trims Position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Key Points

• Argent Trust Co reduced its stake in Danaher Corporation by 4.7%, selling 1,416 shares, which are now valued at approximately $5.91 million.
• Multiple institutional investors, including M.D. Sass LLC and Scotia Capital Inc., have increased their holdings in Danaher, highlighting robust interest among hedge funds.
• Danaher announced a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, indicating a yield of 0.6% and a dividend payout ratio of 27.23%.

Argent Trust Co decreased its stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 28,827 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 1,416 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co's holdings in Danaher were worth $5,910,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Danaher by 2.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,783,485 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,800,614,000 after acquiring an additional 194,466 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,934,991 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,821,477,000 after acquiring an additional 992,594 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Danaher by 32.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,361,183 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,460,215,000 after acquiring an additional 1,566,658 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Danaher by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,812,728 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,334,312,000 after acquiring an additional 370,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Danaher by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,677,032 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,303,163,000 after purchasing an additional 579,046 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Danaher Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of DHR traded down $2.26 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $196.78. 1,920,282 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,288,732. Danaher Corporation has a 1-year low of $171.00 and a 1-year high of $279.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $140.90 billion, a PE ratio of 41.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50 day moving average of $197.95 and a 200 day moving average of $201.85.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.83 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 14.21%. Danaher's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total value of $245,925,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 11.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on DHR. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Danaher from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $275.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, HSBC lowered their price target on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $247.61.

Danaher Company 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.