Meritage Group LP cut its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR – Free Report) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 473,031 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 13,675 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises about 2.8% of Meritage Group LP’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Meritage Group LP owned 0.06% of Danaher worth $117,359,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. lifted its stake in Danaher by 10.9% during the first quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,840 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,420,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its position in Danaher by 19.3% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,468 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $724,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Danaher by 76.8% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 495 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Danaher by 14.1% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 31,530 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $9,248,000 after acquiring an additional 3,897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 135.9% during the first quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 35,270 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $10,346,000 after acquiring an additional 20,320 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.71% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities analysts recently commented on DHR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Danaher from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Danaher from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $215.00 to $205.00 in a report on Thursday, December 7th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $266.00.
Insider Transactions at Danaher
In related news, Director Walter G. Lohr sold 3,289 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total transaction of $826,032.35. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,548,498.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total value of $636,280.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,029,891.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Walter G. Lohr sold 3,289 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total transaction of $826,032.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,129 shares in the company, valued at $3,548,498.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,200 shares of company stock valued at $2,279,038 in the last three months. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Danaher Trading Up 0.4 %
Shares of DHR traded up $1.11 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $253.84. 1,351,229 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,755,968. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $182.09 and a 12 month high of $255.00. The company has a market capitalization of $187.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $236.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $231.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.
Danaher (NYSE:DHR – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 17.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.87 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Danaher Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Danaher’s payout ratio is 15.02%.
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.