Danaher Corporation $DHR Stock Holdings Cut by Blue Whale Capital LLP

Blue Whale Capital LLP cut its position in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 337,831 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 59,563 shares during the quarter. Danaher accounts for 3.7% of Blue Whale Capital LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Blue Whale Capital LLP’s holdings in Danaher were worth $66,978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Magnetar Financial LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 19.7% during the third quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 4,118 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $816,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 50.6% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 19,401 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,847,000 after acquiring an additional 6,519 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Danaher by 5.2% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,728,070 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $342,607,000 after acquiring an additional 85,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 262,420 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $52,027,000 after acquiring an additional 13,043 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $195.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $221.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $215.83. Danaher Corporation has a 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 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 cap of $138.12 billion, a PE ratio of 38.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.93.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.79 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 14.71% and a return on equity of 10.81%. The company’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.14 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 27th. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 25.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DHR. Robert W. Baird set a $251.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Argus set a $265.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Danaher from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.86.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other Danaher news, EVP Gregory M. Milosevich sold 1,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.01, for a total transaction of $274,573.20. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate 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.