Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Riverbridge Partners LLC

Riverbridge Partners LLC trimmed its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 271,356 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 9,577 shares during the period. Riverbridge Partners LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $62,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the third quarter worth approximately $55,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $244.19 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $234.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $253.53. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $225.42 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $176.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.60, a P/E/G ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 16.39%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on DHR shares. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Danaher from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Danaher from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Danaher from $333.00 to $311.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $285.55.

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.