Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 62,437 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 5,464 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises about 1.3% of Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $14,332,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its stake in Danaher by 3.8% in the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 1,646 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $458,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher by 212.5% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,753 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $765,000 after acquiring an additional 1,872 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its position in Danaher by 544.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 954 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 806 shares during the period. Finally, DRW Securities LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 100.1% in the 3rd quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $857,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DHR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.24.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR opened at $212.36 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $216.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $237.75. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 24.24%.

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.