The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Buys 469,008 Shares of Danaher Corporation $DHR

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 24.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,376,853 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 469,008 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Danaher were worth $469,524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. White Pine Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1.4% in the second quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 3,494 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $690,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH boosted its holdings in Danaher by 2.1% during the second quarter. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH now owns 2,524 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $499,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Danaher by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 467 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Texas Bank & Trust Co increased its stake in Danaher by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Bank & Trust Co now owns 3,567 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $705,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR opened at $230.12 on Thursday. Danaher Corporation has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $258.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $217.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $205.19. The firm has a market cap of $162.55 billion, a PE ratio of 47.45, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.89.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The conglomerate reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.17. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.92% and a net margin of 14.44%.The company had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.71 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 26th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.39%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Teri List sold 3,298 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.50, for a total value of $746,997.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,762 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,702,593. The trade was a 13.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 5,174 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.42, for a total transaction of $1,088,713.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,625 shares in the company, valued at $552,352.50. The trade was a 66.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 30,248 shares of company stock valued at $6,609,663 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Danaher from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $241.00 price objective on Danaher in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd. Bank of America lowered their target price on Danaher from $230.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $246.79.

Danaher 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.