Ascent Group LLC Acquires 5,422 Shares of Danaher Corporation $DHR

Ascent Group LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 120.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,912 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,422 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,965,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. Aprio Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 35.5% in the 1st quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,887 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $387,000 after acquiring an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,493 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,331,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 98.3% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 747,389 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $150,427,000 after purchasing an additional 370,483 shares in the last quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 10.0% during the first quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 244,074 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $50,106,000 after buying an additional 22,160 shares during the period. Finally, Concentric Capital Strategies LP boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 6,986.0% during the first quarter. Concentric Capital Strategies LP now owns 98,637 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $20,221,000 after buying an additional 97,245 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 5,174 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.42, for a total transaction 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 approximately $552,352.50. The trade was a 66.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Teri List sold 3,298 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.50, for a total value of $746,997.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,762 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,702,593. This trade represents a 13.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 30,248 shares of company stock valued at $6,609,663 over the last 90 days. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on DHR shares. Robert W. Baird set a $247.00 target price on Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Danaher from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $270.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $226.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.25.

Danaher Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE DHR opened at $228.99 on Friday. Danaher Corporation has a 12 month low of $171.00 and a 12 month high of $258.23. 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 50 day moving average of $223.65 and a 200-day moving average of $208.90. The company has a market cap of $161.75 billion, a PE ratio of 47.21, a PEG ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.89.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 14.44% and a return on equity of 10.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.71 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

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

Danaher Profile

Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) is a global science and technology company that designs, manufactures and markets products and services for the life sciences, diagnostics, and environmental and applied markets. The company organizes its operations into business segments focused on Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental & Applied Solutions, supplying instruments, reagents, software and related services that support research, clinical testing, biopharmaceutical development, and industrial and environmental monitoring.

Products and services in Danaher’s portfolio include analytical and diagnostic instruments, laboratory consumables and reagents, digital and software solutions for workflow and data management, field and industrial monitoring equipment, and service and maintenance programs.