Danaher Corporation $DHR Shares Purchased by Prudential PLC

Prudential PLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 97,871 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,123 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $19,404,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DHR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,769,587 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,004,424,000 after buying an additional 788,499 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Danaher by 1.9% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,758,240 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,318,926,000 after acquiring an additional 312,951 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Danaher during the second quarter worth about $1,979,503,000. Generation Investment Management LLP lifted its holdings in Danaher by 34.0% in the third quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 6,654,666 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,319,354,000 after acquiring an additional 1,689,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Danaher by 4.0% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,822,442 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $952,625,000 after acquiring an additional 186,357 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Guggenheim upped 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 raised their price target on Danaher from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Danaher from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $254.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $253.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Gregory M. Milosevich sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,060,642.99. This 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 available at the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of DHR stock opened at $187.34 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $218.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $215.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.93. Danaher Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $171.00 and a fifty-two week high of $242.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

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

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 27th. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 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.