M&T Bank Corp Reduces Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

M&T Bank Corp trimmed its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 495,675 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 7,822 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Danaher were worth $113,782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Danaher in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $205.92 on Wednesday. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $196.80 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s fifty day moving average is $223.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $243.86.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 price target on Danaher in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 price target (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.00.

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.