Legal & General Group Plc Has $882.68 Million Holdings in Danaher Corporation $DHR

Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,452,118 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 211,053 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Danaher were worth $882,677,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the second quarter worth about $26,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Tripletail Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Danaher during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other news, EVP Gregory M. Milosevich sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,060,642.99. This represents a 20.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.20% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of DHR opened at $198.85 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $221.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $215.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Danaher Corporation has a 12-month low of $171.00 and a 12-month high of $242.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.93.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.79 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 14.71%.Danaher’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.14 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 27th will be issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on DHR shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $254.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Danaher from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.86.

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.