Osterweis Capital Management Inc. Acquires 2,105 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Osterweis Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 102,041 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,105 shares during the quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $23,424,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the third quarter valued at approximately $414,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.3% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 6,039 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,679,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 5.3% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,948 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,600,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the period. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in Danaher during the third quarter worth $254,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:DHR opened at $190.85 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $202.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $228.47. The company has a market cap of $136.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $171.00 and a 52-week high of $281.70. 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 (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on DHR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $231.00 price target on Danaher in a research report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.81.

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.