Stokes Capital Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Stokes Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 36.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,022 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 4,773 shares during the period. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $4,503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Danaher by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,107,030 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $15,009,928,000 after buying an additional 4,163,657 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,928,442 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,460,966,000 after acquiring an additional 2,998,161 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Danaher by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 16,757,558 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,876,694,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619,586 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Danaher by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,956,519 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,691,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,334,781 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $1,752,382,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE DHR traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $269.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,746,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,862,712. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market cap of $199.48 billion, a PE ratio of 45.65, a PEG ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50-day moving average is $257.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $253.60. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $182.09 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.15. Danaher had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.05 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other news, Director Linda Filler sold 3,928 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.50, for a total transaction of $1,097,876.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 41,149 shares in the company, valued at $11,501,145.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Matthew Mcgrew sold 16,172 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.84, for a total transaction of $4,525,572.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,407 shares in the company, valued at $8,229,254.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Linda Filler sold 3,928 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.50, for a total value of $1,097,876.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 41,149 shares in the company, valued at $11,501,145.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,707 shares of company stock valued at $10,786,944 over the last three months. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DHR shares. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Danaher from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $295.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $297.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, SVB Leerink raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.88.

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.