SouthState Corp Cuts Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

SouthState Corp reduced its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,096 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 794 shares during the period. Danaher makes up 1.5% of SouthState Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Danaher were worth $22,977,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the third quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the third quarter valued at $40,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday. Scotiabank started coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 target price on Danaher in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.76.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

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

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE:DHR opened at $211.09 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $196.80 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $220.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $240.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.24%.

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.