Van ECK Associates Corp Increases Stock Position in Danaher Corporation $DHR

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 5.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,728,070 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 85,460 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Danaher were worth $342,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Tripletail Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHR has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $254.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $270.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partners boosted their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $253.86.

Danaher Stock Performance

Danaher stock opened at $198.85 on Tuesday. Danaher Corporation has a 12-month low of $171.00 and a 12-month high of $242.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The company has a market capitalization of $140.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $221.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $215.95.

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

Danaher Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, EVP Gregory M. Milosevich sold 1,320 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.01, for a total value of $274,573.20. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 11.20% of the company’s stock.

About Danaher

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.