Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Purchased by Blue Whale Capital LLP

Blue Whale Capital LLP lifted its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 27.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 329,746 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 70,280 shares during the quarter. Danaher accounts for 5.6% of Blue Whale Capital LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Blue Whale Capital LLP’s holdings in Danaher were worth $75,693,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its holdings in Danaher by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 319,502 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $73,342,000 after buying an additional 7,695 shares in the last quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $918,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,161,000. Trek Financial LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Trek Financial LLC now owns 4,321 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $992,000 after buying an additional 1,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its stake in Danaher by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 85,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $19,627,000 after acquiring an additional 18,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays lowered their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.24.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $181.42 on Monday. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $165.17 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The firm has a market cap of $129.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.36, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $209.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $233.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.24%.

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.