Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Purchased by Osterweis Capital Management Inc.

Osterweis Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 102,041 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,105 shares during the period. Osterweis Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $23,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Danaher by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 56,790 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $13,036,000 after acquiring an additional 4,129 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 223,073 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $51,206,000 after buying an additional 51,150 shares in the last quarter. Stenger Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth approximately $281,000. Finward Bancorp bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $230,000. Finally, Delaney Dennis R lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Delaney Dennis R now owns 24,606 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,648,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

DHR stock opened at $190.85 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $136.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $202.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $228.47. 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 12 month low of $171.00 and a 12 month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DHR. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price for the company. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $231.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.81.

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.