Motco Raises Stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Motco boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 7.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,348 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the quarter. Motco’s holdings in Danaher were worth $276,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DHR. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Danaher by 24,958.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,870,847 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $383,524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,863,381 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 4,248.8% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,639,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $376,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,601,800 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 32.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,361,183 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,460,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566,658 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 460.6% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,348,544 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $309,558,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107,998 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $242,837,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Stock Up 1.4%

NYSE DHR opened at $205.60 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $196.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $203.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $147.22 billion, a PE ratio of 43.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.77. Danaher Corporation has a 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.83 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 10.70%. Danaher’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DHR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank raised shares of Danaher from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, July 11th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Danaher from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Leerink Partners increased their target price on Danaher from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research 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 an average target price of $247.61.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total value of $245,925,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at $611,036,665.92. The trade was a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.