Global Assets Advisory LLC Invests $40.66 Million in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 162,806 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $40,656,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $1,752,382,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Danaher by 18.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,930,281 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,185,203,000 after purchasing an additional 3,905,449 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in Danaher by 214.4% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,073,661 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $711,051,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,038 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Danaher by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 16,757,558 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,876,694,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in Danaher by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,956,519 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,691,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,334,781 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

DHR stock opened at $256.76 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $190.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.52, a PEG ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $254.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $245.88. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $182.09 and a one year high of $269.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.85.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.62 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 11.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.36 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 18.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DHR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. HSBC upgraded shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $250.00 to $280.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.29.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.22, for a total value of $11,756,953.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,908,273.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 4,000 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total value of $1,000,040.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 29,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,457,798.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.22, for a total value of $11,756,953.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,908,273.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,783 shares of company stock valued at $37,536,717 in the last three months. 10.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Danaher

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.