Canton Hathaway LLC Has $2.90 Million Stock Position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Canton Hathaway LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 22.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,150 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 2,575 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises about 0.6% of Canton Hathaway LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Canton Hathaway LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $2,901,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $13,715,641,000 after acquiring an additional 315,912 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $3,056,996,000 after buying an additional 315,446 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth about $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Danaher by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,589,019 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,971,609,000 after buying an additional 441,012 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Danaher by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,934,991 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,821,477,000 after buying an additional 992,594 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR stock traded up $1.79 on Friday, hitting $196.23. 6,548,950 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,476,584. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $140.43 billion, a PE ratio of 38.10, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.77. Danaher Corporation has a 1-year low of $171.00 and a 1-year high of $281.70. The company's fifty day moving average is $193.89 and its 200 day moving average is $209.51.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.80% and a net margin of 15.81%. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.58 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is 24.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Danaher from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $248.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total value of $245,925,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. The trade was a 28.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 11.20% of the company's stock.

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.