Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Stock Position Lowered by Maple Capital Management Inc.

Maple Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 16.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,515 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 3,197 shares during the period. Maple Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $3,791,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $11,202,000. Milestones Administradora de Recursos Ltda. lifted its stake in Danaher by 133.3% during the fourth quarter. Milestones Administradora de Recursos Ltda. now owns 3,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $803,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Tufton Capital Management boosted its holdings in Danaher by 34.8% during the fourth quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 15,876 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,644,000 after buying an additional 4,098 shares in the last quarter. Davis Rea LTD. boosted its holdings in Danaher by 156.3% during the fourth quarter. Davis Rea LTD. now owns 41,428 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $9,521,000 after buying an additional 25,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bouchey Financial Group Ltd grew its position in Danaher by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd now owns 1,290 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $207.73 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $196.80 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $224.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $245.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $148.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.34, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. Analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors 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 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on DHR shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 price objective (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays dropped their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

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.