Umpqua Bank Has $311,000 Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Umpqua Bank lifted its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,310 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Umpqua Bank’s holdings in Danaher were worth $311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DHR. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 16,940 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,713,000 after buying an additional 2,499 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 379,341 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $105,464,000 after buying an additional 26,124 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Danaher by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 51,110 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $14,210,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lathrop Investment Management Corp grew its position in Danaher by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lathrop Investment Management Corp now owns 25,705 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $7,147,000 after acquiring an additional 3,125 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 10.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Stock Performance

DHR opened at $211.63 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $217.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $238.86. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $196.80 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The company has a market capitalization of $151.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. 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 results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on DHR. Barclays decreased their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Bank of America upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.24.

Danaher 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.