Alaethes Wealth LLC Increases Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Alaethes Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 3.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,960 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. Alaethes Wealth LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,741,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,153 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 3.4% in the second quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 1,230 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Trust Co of Kansas raised its position in shares of Danaher by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Trust Co of Kansas now owns 1,022 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 0.7% in the second quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 5,439 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Danaher by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 2,880 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $719,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

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

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $272.63 on Friday. The firm 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. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $267.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $257.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $182.09 and a twelve month high of $281.70.

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

Danaher Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on DHR. Barclays increased their price target on Danaher from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Friday, September 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Danaher from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.94.

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.