Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Progressive Investment Management Corp

Progressive Investment Management Corp lowered its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,984 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,105 shares during the period. Danaher comprises 2.7% of Progressive Investment Management Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Progressive Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Danaher were worth $10,556,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 15,694 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,603,000 after acquiring an additional 694 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS increased its position in shares of Danaher by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 174,467 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $40,049,000 after buying an additional 3,566 shares in the last quarter. Alerus Financial NA raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 100.2% during the 4th quarter. Alerus Financial NA now owns 4,394 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,009,000 after buying an additional 2,199 shares during the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,683 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $386,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in Danaher by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 77,009 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $17,678,000 after acquiring an additional 6,359 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DHR. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research 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 research note on Friday, March 14th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.24.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $205.69 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $214.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $236.90. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $196.80 and a twelve month high of $281.70. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $147.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.96, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.