Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Lincoln Capital LLC

Lincoln Capital LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 78,766 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 181 shares during the period. Danaher accounts for approximately 4.4% of Lincoln Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Lincoln Capital LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $19,669,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Danaher by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,928,442 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,460,966,000 after purchasing an additional 2,998,161 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Danaher by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 16,757,558 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,876,694,000 after buying an additional 1,619,586 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Danaher by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,956,519 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,691,735,000 after acquiring an additional 1,334,781 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $1,752,382,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Danaher by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,620,170 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,531,510,000 after acquiring an additional 395,498 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Danaher stock traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $252.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 452,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,816,214. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.85. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $182.09 and a fifty-two week high of $269.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.89 billion, a PE ratio of 42.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $255.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $246.19.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.20. Danaher had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 11.43%. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 18.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on Danaher from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. HSBC upgraded shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.00, for a total transaction of $2,386,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,352,350. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Matthew Mcgrew sold 46,377 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.05, for a total transaction of $11,735,699.85. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 29,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,441,441.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.00, for a total transaction of $2,386,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,990 shares in the company, valued at $28,352,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 148,783 shares of company stock valued at $37,536,717. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.