First Financial Corp IN Reduces Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

First Financial Corp IN cut its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,093 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 54 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN’s holdings in Danaher were worth $251,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DHR. FMR LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 15.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,566,116,000 after buying an additional 3,217,631 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 22.7% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,047,728 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $761,475,000 after acquiring an additional 563,546 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 40,196.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 429,964 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $119,539,000 after acquiring an additional 428,897 shares during the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,705,884 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $465,617,000 after purchasing an additional 397,671 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 82.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 653,375 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $181,651,000 after purchasing an additional 295,187 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $239.83 on Tuesday. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $222.53 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $235.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $253.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.22 billion, a PE ratio of 45.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 16.39%. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 20.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on DHR. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Danaher from $333.00 to $311.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Danaher from $278.00 to $277.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Scotiabank began coverage on Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price for the company. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $286.80.

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.