Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. Grows Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. raised its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 38.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 16,250 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,550 shares during the quarter. Danaher accounts for approximately 4.4% of Watershed Asset Management L.L.C.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $3,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new stake in Danaher during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on DHR shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Citigroup increased their price target on Danaher from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Danaher from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. HSBC raised shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $268.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total value of $636,280.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,029,891.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total transaction of $636,280.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,029,891.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total value of $5,986,764.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,601,704. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 32,957 shares of company stock valued at $8,265,802. Corporate insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Up 7.2 %

Shares of DHR traded up $17.03 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $253.11. The stock had a trading volume of 6,876,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,777,720. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $248.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $230.64. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $182.09 and a 1-year high of $259.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $187.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.18. Danaher had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 17.26%. The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.87 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.90%.

Danaher Company 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.