Patten Group Inc. Has $1.23 Million Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Patten Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,376 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 396 shares during the period. Patten Group Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,234,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DHR. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its position in shares of Danaher by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,874,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in Danaher by 1,212.8% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 2,559 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. grew its holdings in Danaher by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 202,263 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $56,233,000 after acquiring an additional 2,465 shares during the last quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $8,044,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Danaher by 1.3% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 847,348 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $235,583,000 after acquiring an additional 11,216 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

DHR opened at $205.60 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $224.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $244.31. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The company has a market cap of $146.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.94, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 24.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on DHR. Bank of America raised shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 price objective on Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.