Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) Stock Position Lowered by J.P. Marvel Investment Advisors LLC

J.P. Marvel Investment Advisors LLC lessened its position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,255 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Danaher makes up about 1.0% of J.P. Marvel Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. J.P. Marvel Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $5,792,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in Danaher by 22.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 192,731 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $44,241,000 after buying an additional 35,730 shares in the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 12,749 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,927,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 30.5% during the 4th quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. now owns 1,137 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Korea Investment CORP raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 500,750 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $114,947,000 after purchasing an additional 3,913 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,179 shares in the company, valued at $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total transaction of $245,925,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 3,105,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $611,036,665.92. The trade was a 28.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $203.21 on Friday. Danaher Corporation has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $196.19 and its 200-day moving average is $204.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.24, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.16. Danaher had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. Danaher’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 27.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Leerink Partners raised their price target on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Danaher from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $275.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $210.00 to $205.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $247.61.

Danaher Company 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.