Danaher Corporation $DHR Stake Reduced by BlueSpruce Investments LP

BlueSpruce Investments LP cut its holdings in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,115,825 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 91,908 shares during the quarter. Danaher makes up approximately 9.7% of BlueSpruce Investments LP’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. BlueSpruce Investments LP owned about 0.30% of Danaher worth $417,960,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Red Tortoise LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher by 175.0% in the second quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 154 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher in the second quarter valued at $40,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the 2nd quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in Danaher in the 1st quarter worth $52,000. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $226.70 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $218.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $205.67. Danaher Corporation has a 12-month low of $171.00 and a 12-month high of $258.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.74, a PEG ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.89.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The conglomerate reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.17. Danaher had a net margin of 14.44% and a return on equity of 10.92%. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.39%.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 21,776 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.23, for a total value of $4,773,952.48. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 14,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,190,454.19. The trade was a 59.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 5,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.42, for a total value of $1,088,713.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,625 shares in the company, valued at $552,352.50. The trade was a 66.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 30,248 shares of company stock worth $6,609,663 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DHR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $220.00 target price (down previously from $245.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. HSBC upped their target price on Danaher from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $247.00 target price on Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $246.79.

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.