Riverwater Partners LLC Reduces Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Riverwater Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 22.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,028 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 880 shares during the period. Riverwater Partners LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $695,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $13,715,641,000 after buying an additional 315,912 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Danaher by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,056,996,000 after purchasing an additional 315,446 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,589,019 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,971,609,000 after purchasing an additional 441,012 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,578,945 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,051,097,000 after purchasing an additional 26,305 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher 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 transaction, 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 is accessible through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Danaher Trading Down 8.3 %

Shares of DHR stock opened at $181.42 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $181.20 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $209.99 and its 200 day moving average is $234.26.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 last year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 24.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised 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. Citigroup reduced their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price 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. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.24.

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.