Osterweis Capital Management Inc. Grows Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Osterweis Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 102,041 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 2,105 shares during the period. Osterweis Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $23,424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $265.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $274.55.

Danaher Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of DHR stock traded down $3.95 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $186.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,667,685 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,329,253. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $171.00 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The stock has a market cap of $133.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.36, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $201.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $226.91.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. This is a boost from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

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.