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

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. increased its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,073 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,437 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises approximately 1.7% of Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $14,129,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Banco Santander S.A. purchased a new stake in Danaher during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $683,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in Danaher by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 26,611 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,156,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Cercano Management LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Cercano Management LLC now owns 202,569 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $46,862,000 after buying an additional 20,715 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 296,996 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $68,707,000 after buying an additional 96,395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Danaher by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,080 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $764,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on DHR shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. HSBC upgraded Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $269.64.

Danaher Stock Down 0.6 %

DHR traded down $1.48 on Tuesday, hitting $245.34. The company had a trading volume of 1,093,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,750,018. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $248.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $231.53. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $182.09 and a 12-month high of $259.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 16.78%. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.36 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 18.31%.

Insider Activity

In other Danaher news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.22, for a total transaction of $11,756,953.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,908,273.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.22, for a total transaction of $11,756,953.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,908,273.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joakim Weidemanis sold 22,433 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.46, for a total value of $5,618,569.18. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 90,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,644,589.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 106,565 shares of company stock worth $26,641,364 over the last three months. 10.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.