Value Partners Investments Inc. Decreases Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Value Partners Investments Inc. lowered its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 21.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,465 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 389 shares during the quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $336,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 7,390 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,696,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in Danaher by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spinnaker Trust raised its stake in Danaher by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 4,304 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $988,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on DHR shares. Barclays upgraded shares of Danaher from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $240.00 to $205.00 in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price objective (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Guggenheim started coverage on Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $276.57.

Danaher Stock Up 4.4 %

NYSE DHR opened at $188.75 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $171.00 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $203.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $229.58. The stock has a market cap of $134.90 billion, a PE ratio of 35.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 quarter last year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. 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 0.68%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.24%.

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.