Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Holdings Cut by Blue Whale Capital LLP

Blue Whale Capital LLP lessened its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 8.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 185,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 17,500 shares during the period. Danaher comprises 4.1% of Blue Whale Capital LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Blue Whale Capital LLP’s holdings in Danaher were worth $46,347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Tsfg LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 733.3% during the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 100 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 9,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.16, for a total value of $2,641,536.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,566,486.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 9,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.16, for a total transaction of $2,641,536.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,566,486.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,007 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $2,521,960.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 97,983 shares in the company, valued at $27,435,240. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,659 shares of company stock worth $11,042,433. 11.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $266.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Danaher in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $295.00 price target on the stock. Leerink Partners lifted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.94.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $272.63 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $201.93 billion, a PE ratio of 46.21, a P/E/G ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $182.09 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $267.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $257.14.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 16.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.05 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.59 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.31%.

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.