Fifth Third Bancorp Decreases Position in Danaher Corporation $DHR

Fifth Third Bancorp decreased its position in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 475,484 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 18,657 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp owned 0.07% of Danaher worth $94,269,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in Danaher during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on DHR shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $251.00 price objective on Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Danaher from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Danaher from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Danaher news, Director Teri List sold 3,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.50, for a total transaction of $746,997.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,702,593. This trade represents a 13.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.20% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE:DHR opened at $212.37 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.87. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $228.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $215.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.01 billion, a PE ratio of 42.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.91. Danaher Corporation has a 52-week low of $171.00 and a 52-week high of $242.80.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.79 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 14.71%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.14 EPS. Analysts forecast that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 26th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 25.40%.

About Danaher

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.