Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Holdings Cut by Bancreek Capital Management LP

Bancreek Capital Management LP decreased its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 46.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,589 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 28,424 shares during the quarter. Danaher accounts for approximately 7.3% of Bancreek Capital Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Bancreek Capital Management LP’s holdings in Danaher were worth $7,481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its holdings 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 worth $4,874,000 after buying an additional 2,202 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 1,212.8% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $636,000 after acquiring an additional 2,559 shares during the period. Generate Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $8,044,000. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.3% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 847,348 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $235,583,000 after buying an additional 11,216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Compass Capital Management Inc. now owns 237,922 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $54,615,000 after purchasing an additional 10,994 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 10.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $211.63 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.08, a PEG 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. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $217.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $238.86. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $196.80 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays cut their price objective on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price objective (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America raised shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.24.

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.