Congress Asset Management Co. MA Has $257,000 Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Congress Asset Management Co. MA lessened its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 5.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,031 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 62 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA’s holdings in Danaher were worth $257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Up 2.6 %

NYSE DHR opened at $254.96 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $254.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $245.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.51. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $182.09 and a fifty-two week high of $269.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $188.85 billion, a PE ratio of 43.21, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.85.

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

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Danaher’s payout ratio is 18.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.22, for a total value of $11,756,953.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,908,273.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Matthew Mcgrew sold 46,377 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.05, for a total value of $11,735,699.85. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,407 shares in the company, valued at $7,441,441.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.22, for a total value of $11,756,953.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,908,273.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 148,783 shares of company stock worth $37,536,717. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Danaher in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $295.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Citigroup upped their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $269.29.

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.