Putney Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,774 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $866,000. Danaher accounts for approximately 0.6% of Putney Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its position in Danaher by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,749 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc. grew its position in Danaher by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 7,390 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,696,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Spinnaker Trust boosted its holdings in Danaher by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 4,304 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $988,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,983 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $914,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fayez Sarofim & Co boosted its holdings in Danaher by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 8,287 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,902,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $184.79 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $171.00 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $195.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $215.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.58 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $263.24.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total transaction of $245,925,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.