Bank of Stockton Increases Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Bank of Stockton raised its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,498 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 236 shares during the period. Bank of Stockton’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new stake in Danaher during the third quarter worth about $5,923,000. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $455,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of Danaher by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 45,631 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,686,000 after buying an additional 2,431 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher by 40,196.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 429,964 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $119,539,000 after acquiring an additional 428,897 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $208.10 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The company has a 50 day moving average of $227.21 and a 200 day moving average of $247.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $150.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on DHR shares. Bank of America raised Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price objective (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

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.