Harbor Investment Advisory LLC Reduces Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC decreased its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,052 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 99 shares during the quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $2,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Danaher during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the 3rd quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the third quarter worth $55,000. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

DHR opened at $238.41 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.50, a PEG ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $222.53 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $234.85 and a 200 day moving average of $253.51.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 16.39%. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on DHR shares. Raymond James lowered their target price on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $275.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $286.80.

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.