CenterBook Partners LP Increases Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

CenterBook Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 38.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,685 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 4,923 shares during the quarter. CenterBook Partners LP's holdings in Danaher were worth $4,060,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its position in Danaher by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of Danaher stock traded down $2.87 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $190.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,056,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,313,411. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $171.00 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $203.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $229.00. 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 company has a market cap of $135.87 billion, a PE ratio of 36.00, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. Analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is an increase from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DHR shares. Barclays upgraded Danaher from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $240.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $276.57.

Insider Activity

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

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.