Defender Capital LLC. Boosts Holdings in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Defender Capital LLC. grew its stake in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR – Free Report) by 13.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 156,543 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 18,592 shares during the period. Danaher makes up 12.7% of Defender Capital LLC.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Defender Capital LLC.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $32,091,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DHR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $13,715,641,000 after acquiring an additional 315,912 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Danaher by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,056,996,000 after purchasing an additional 315,446 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $2,130,740,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Danaher by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,934,991 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,821,477,000 after purchasing an additional 992,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Danaher by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,361,183 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,460,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566,658 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Danaher news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total transaction of $245,925,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,005,442. The trade was a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 11.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America decreased their price target on Danaher from $265.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Argus dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $248.61.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Danaher

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $201.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $143.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.03, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.77. Danaher Corporation has a 12 month low of $171.00 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $195.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.84.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 10.80%. Research analysts expect that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 24.85%.

Danaher Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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