Geode Capital Management LLC Cuts Position in Danaher Corporation $DHR

Geode Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,774,442 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 74,970 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $3,138,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Employees Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 414,438 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $94,873,000 after purchasing an additional 96,700 shares during the period. TrustBank bought a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at $521,000. Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in Danaher by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 14,195 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,249,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,597 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $595,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 34.7% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 35,709 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,175,000 after acquiring an additional 9,208 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DHR. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, May 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. Evercore boosted their target price on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.24.

Danaher Stock Performance

Danaher stock opened at $173.22 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $182.58 and a 200-day moving average of $207.86. The firm has a market cap of $122.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.81. Danaher Corporation has a 1-year low of $160.93 and a 1-year high of $242.80.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The conglomerate reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. Danaher had a net margin of 14.89% and a return on equity of 10.91%. The company had revenue of $5.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. Danaher’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Danaher Corporation will post 8.43 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 26th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.95%.

Danaher 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.