Romano Brothers AND Company Cuts Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Romano Brothers AND Company lessened its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 41.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,230 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,561 shares during the period. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in Danaher were worth $516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Drive Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,485 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its holdings in Danaher by 0.8% during the first quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 6,064 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,779,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. New Hampshire Trust raised its holdings in Danaher by 0.3% during the third quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 14,438 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,582,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Connolly Sarah T. raised its holdings in Danaher by 0.5% during the third quarter. Connolly Sarah T. now owns 9,599 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,382,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrive Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 0.9% during the third quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,496 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,364,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE:DHR opened at $239.95 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $177.69 billion, a PE ratio of 37.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $182.09 and a 52-week high of $259.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $249.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $229.90.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.18. Danaher had a net margin of 17.26% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.87 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 16.90%.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total value of $636,280.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,029,891.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Danaher news, Director Walter G. Lohr sold 3,289 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $826,032.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,548,498.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 owns 4,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,029,891.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 32,957 shares of company stock valued at $8,265,802. 10.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DHR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Danaher from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. HSBC began coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 18th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $267.43.

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.