Handelsbanken Fonder AB Boosts Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 300,825 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 7,683 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Danaher were worth $83,635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Danaher by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,107,030 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $15,009,928,000 after acquiring an additional 4,163,657 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Danaher by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,928,442 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,460,966,000 after buying an additional 2,998,161 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Danaher during the first quarter valued at approximately $676,545,000. 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 buying an additional 2,096,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Danaher by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 16,757,558 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,876,694,000 after buying an additional 1,619,586 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DHR traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $270.03. 1,132,669 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,759,666. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $271.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $258.60. The company has a market cap of $200.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.77, a PEG ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $182.09 and a 52 week high of $281.70.

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

Danaher Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upped their price target on Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $282.12.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other Danaher news, CFO Matthew Mcgrew sold 16,172 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.84, for a total value of $4,525,572.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,229,254.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Danaher news, CFO Matthew Mcgrew sold 16,172 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.84, for a total value of $4,525,572.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 29,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,229,254.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total value of $255,488.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,130,374.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,659 shares of company stock valued at $11,042,433. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.