Argent Trust Co Reduces Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Argent Trust Co decreased its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,334 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 78 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Danaher were worth $7,829,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Danaher by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 1,230 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co of Kansas raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Trust Co of Kansas now owns 1,022 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 5,439 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 2,880 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $719,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,345 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $586,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR opened at $272.48 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $265.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $256.78. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $182.09 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The company has a market capitalization of $201.82 billion, a PE ratio of 46.18, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.43.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.05 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 18.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Danaher news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total value of $255,488.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,130,374.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 9,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.16, for a total value of $2,641,536.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $5,566,486.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total transaction of $255,488.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,130,374.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,659 shares of company stock valued at $11,042,433 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on DHR shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, June 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $295.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Danaher from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Danaher from $271.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.94.

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.