Canton Hathaway LLC Has $2.90 Million Stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Canton Hathaway LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 22.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,150 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,575 shares during the period. Danaher makes up approximately 0.6% of Canton Hathaway LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Canton Hathaway LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $2,901,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,130,740,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 24,958.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,870,847 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $383,524,000 after buying an additional 1,863,381 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $391,172,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 4,248.8% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,639,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $376,347,000 after buying an additional 1,601,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 32.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,361,183 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,460,215,000 after buying an additional 1,566,658 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Up 0.9%

DHR opened at $196.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.43. Danaher Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $171.00 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $193.89 and its 200 day moving average is $209.69. The stock has a market cap of $140.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.77.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 10.80%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 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, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 24.85%.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DHR. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Danaher from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays lifted 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. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, HSBC lowered their price target on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.17.

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.