White Pine Capital LLC Decreases Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

White Pine Capital LLC lowered its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,217 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 220 shares during the quarter. White Pine Capital LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $738,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 3.2% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,231 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 957 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Danaher by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Well Done LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 3,551 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $987,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 0.9% during the third quarter. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,520 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,257,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR opened at $203.56 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $230.49 and its 200-day moving average is $250.28. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $196.80 and a one year high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly 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 business posted $2.09 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on DHR shares. Guggenheim began coverage on Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 price target (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $309.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.