Danaher Corporation $DHR Shares Sold by Rathbones Group PLC

Rathbones Group PLC cut its position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 19.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 279,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 67,896 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $55,408,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the second quarter worth $1,979,503,000. Viking Global Investors LP increased its holdings in Danaher by 543.9% in the second quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,907,515 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $574,351,000 after buying an additional 2,455,994 shares during the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP raised its stake in Danaher by 56.2% in the second quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 4,965,646 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $980,914,000 after buying an additional 1,787,522 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in Danaher by 924.2% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 1,239,320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $244,815,000 after buying an additional 1,118,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Danaher by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,769,587 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $12,004,424,000 after buying an additional 788,499 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Gregory M. Milosevich sold 1,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.01, for a total transaction of $274,573.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,060,642.99. This trade represents a 20.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 3.2%

Danaher stock opened at $195.60 on Friday. Danaher Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $171.00 and a fifty-two week high of $242.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.87. The company has a market capitalization of $138.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.81, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $222.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $215.95.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.79 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 14.71%.The business’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.14 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 27th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 27th. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on DHR. Argus set a $265.00 price objective on Danaher in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised their price objective on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.86.

Danaher Company Profile

Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) is a global science and technology company that designs, manufactures and markets products and services for the life sciences, diagnostics, and environmental and applied markets. The company organizes its operations into business segments focused on Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental & Applied Solutions, supplying instruments, reagents, software and related services that support research, clinical testing, biopharmaceutical development, and industrial and environmental monitoring.

Products and services in Danaher’s portfolio include analytical and diagnostic instruments, laboratory consumables and reagents, digital and software solutions for workflow and data management, field and industrial monitoring equipment, and service and maintenance programs.