DF Dent & Co. Inc. Decreases Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

DF Dent & Co. Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 583,543 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 5,705 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises about 1.7% of DF Dent & Co. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. DF Dent & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $133,952,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,130,740,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $391,172,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 6,862.7% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $213,452,000 after buying an additional 916,513 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,105,388 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $712,842,000 after buying an additional 749,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Danaher by 29,287.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 588,929 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $135,189,000 after acquiring an additional 586,925 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.24.

Danaher Trading Up 2.4 %

NYSE:DHR opened at $205.23 on Thursday. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $196.34 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $212.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $235.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.87, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share 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 represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.