First Financial Bankshares Inc Lowers Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

First Financial Bankshares Inc decreased its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 42,660 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 99 shares during the period. First Financial Bankshares Inc’s holdings in Danaher were worth $9,793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Generali Investments Management Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth $3,657,000. Investment House LLC grew its position in Danaher by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Investment House LLC now owns 15,391 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,533,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Danaher by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 32,569 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,479,000 after purchasing an additional 1,637 shares during the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd bought a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $231,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. raised its position in Danaher by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 96,394 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $22,127,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Guggenheim started coverage on Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 price objective (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.76.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR opened at $212.71 on Wednesday. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $196.80 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $152.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $219.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $239.67.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 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 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 24.24%.

Danaher 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.