Danaher Corporation $DHR Shares Sold by Blair William & Co. IL

Blair William & Co. IL reduced its stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,366,102 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 9,622 shares during the quarter. Danaher accounts for 0.7% of Blair William & Co. IL’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Blair William & Co. IL owned 0.19% of Danaher worth $270,843,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Danaher by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,009 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Danaher by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,981 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $391,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Malaga Cove Capital LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 33.6% during the second quarter. Malaga Cove Capital LLC now owns 7,141 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,794 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 2.2% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 53,591 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $10,586,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 3.8% in the second quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC now owns 77,837 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $15,376,000 after purchasing an additional 2,881 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 3.2%

DHR stock opened at $195.60 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $222.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $215.93. Danaher Corporation has a 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 week high of $242.80. The company has a market cap of $138.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 27th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on DHR shares. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $254.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Argus set a $265.00 price objective on Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. Leerink Partners increased their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $270.00 target price on the stock. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $253.86.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, EVP Gregory M. Milosevich sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.01, for a total transaction of $274,573.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,060,642.99. This trade represents a 20.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.