Gabelli Funds LLC Trims Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Gabelli Funds LLC lowered its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,385 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 530 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $5,340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Biltmore Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 1,601 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Danaher by 1.0% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,125,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,279,932,000 after acquiring an additional 52,679 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Sarl increased its stake in Danaher by 20.1% during the first quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 130,130 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $32,496,000 after acquiring an additional 21,804 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 414,120 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $103,414,000 after purchasing an additional 5,887 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Ltd. CA grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 20.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 96,815 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $24,177,000 after purchasing an additional 16,245 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other news, Director Alan G. Spoon sold 708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total transaction of $172,454.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 116,202 shares in the company, valued at $28,304,483.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Matthew Mcgrew sold 46,377 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.05, for a total value of $11,735,699.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,407 shares in the company, valued at $7,441,441.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Alan G. Spoon sold 708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total value of $172,454.64. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 116,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,304,483.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 84,775 shares of company stock worth $21,802,690. 11.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of Danaher stock traded up $3.82 on Friday, reaching $273.91. 2,810,147 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,314,172. The firm has a market cap of $197.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.43, a P/E/G ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $182.09 and a 1-year high of $277.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.43. The company’s 50-day moving average is $255.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $249.22.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 16.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.05 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on DHR. SVB Leerink increased their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays raised their price objective on Danaher from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Danaher from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.88.

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.