Front Street Capital Management Inc. Has $29.94 Million Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Front Street Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 130,428 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,522 shares during the quarter. Danaher accounts for approximately 5.2% of Front Street Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Front Street Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $29,940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC raised 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 valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird set a $231.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded 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. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.55.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $186.71 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $133.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.36, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $171.00 and a twelve month high of $281.70. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $202.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $227.84.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (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 previous year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, research 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. Stockholders 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

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.