Tower Bridge Advisors Lowers Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Tower Bridge Advisors lessened its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,465 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 529 shares during the quarter. Danaher makes up about 1.2% of Tower Bridge Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Tower Bridge Advisors’ holdings in Danaher were worth $11,125,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its position in Danaher by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,874,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares during the last quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC increased its position in Danaher by 3.2% in the third quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC now owns 238,092 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $66,194,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in Danaher by 1,212.8% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 2,559 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. increased its position in Danaher by 1.2% in the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 202,263 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $56,233,000 after purchasing an additional 2,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generate Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $8,044,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on DHR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:DHR opened at $207.73 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $196.80 and a 1-year high of $281.70. The company has a 50-day moving average of $224.58 and a 200 day moving average of $245.09. The firm has a market cap of $148.47 billion, a PE ratio of 39.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share 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 last year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

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.