Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Stake Reduced by Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC

Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC cut its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,248 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 228 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises about 2.3% of Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. Founders Financial Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher during the third quarter valued at about $218,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Danaher by 540.0% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 160 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Danaher by 99.5% in the third quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,264 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $810,000 after buying an additional 1,628 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its holdings in Danaher by 6.0% in the third quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 8,446 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,096,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Danaher by 16.2% in the third quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,118 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Performance

DHR stock traded up $0.78 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $246.58. The stock had a trading volume of 2,710,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,710,897. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $182.09 and a 52 week high of $259.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $248.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $231.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.62 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 16.78%. Danaher’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on Danaher from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $270.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.22, for a total transaction of $11,756,953.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,908,273.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Walter G. Lohr sold 3,289 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $826,032.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,129 shares in the company, valued at $3,548,498.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.22, for a total value of $11,756,953.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,908,273.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 106,565 shares of company stock valued at $26,641,364. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.