Mirova Increases Stock Holdings in Danaher Corporation $DHR

Mirova boosted its stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 479.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 20,049 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,590 shares during the quarter. Mirova’s holdings in Danaher were worth $3,975,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Saranac Partners Ltd lifted its holdings in Danaher by 11.1% during the third quarter. Saranac Partners Ltd now owns 22,853 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,485,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 29.8% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,621 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares in the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Danaher by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 102,919 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $20,405,000 after purchasing an additional 11,129 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment raised its position in shares of Danaher by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 44,434 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,809,000 after purchasing an additional 972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research Partners LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at about $368,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, EVP Gregory M. Milosevich sold 1,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.01, for a total transaction of $274,573.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,060,642.99. This trade represents a 20.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR stock opened at $191.43 on Thursday. Danaher Corporation has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $242.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.36 billion, a PE ratio of 37.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $216.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $215.14.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.79 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 14.71%.The firm’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 27th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 27th. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 25.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Leerink Partners boosted their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Argus set a $265.00 price target on Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Robert W. Baird set a $251.00 price objective on Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, HSBC lifted their target price on shares of Danaher from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $253.55.

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.