Riverbridge Partners LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Danaher Corporation $DHR

Riverbridge Partners LLC reduced its position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 240,606 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 9,641 shares during the quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $55,080,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DHR. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 1,820 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the period. CPA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in Danaher by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. CPA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,479 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,483,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management grew its position in Danaher by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management now owns 7,136 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,634,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Finally, Stableford Capital II LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at about $781,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE DHR opened at $188.13 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.93. Danaher Corporation has a 52-week low of $171.00 and a 52-week high of $242.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $210.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $214.52.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.09. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 14.71%.The company had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 27th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Gregory M. Milosevich sold 1,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.01, for a total transaction of $274,573.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,060,642.99. This represents a 20.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $254.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Leerink Partners boosted their target price on Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Argus set a $265.00 price target on Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.55.

Danaher Profile

Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) is a global science and technology company that designs, manufactures and markets products and services for the life sciences, diagnostics, and environmental and applied markets. The company organizes its operations into business segments focused on Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental & Applied Solutions, supplying instruments, reagents, software and related services that support research, clinical testing, biopharmaceutical development, and industrial and environmental monitoring.

Products and services in Danaher’s portfolio include analytical and diagnostic instruments, laboratory consumables and reagents, digital and software solutions for workflow and data management, field and industrial monitoring equipment, and service and maintenance programs.