Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC Trims Stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,534 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 352 shares during the period. Danaher comprises approximately 1.1% of Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $19,174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,983 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $914,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its position in shares of Danaher by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 8,287 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,902,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 1,099 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,343 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in Danaher by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,739 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of DHR stock opened at $194.36 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Corporation has a twelve month low of $171.00 and a twelve month high of $281.70. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $193.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $210.00. The stock has a market cap of $139.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.74, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.77.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 10.80%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on DHR. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. HSBC decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Argus decreased their target price on Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $248.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total transaction of $245,925,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 3,105,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.