Empowered Funds LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 5.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,870 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 876 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $4,412,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Danaher by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,964,031 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,490,112,000 after buying an additional 139,989 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Danaher by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,125,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,279,932,000 after acquiring an additional 52,679 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Danaher by 2.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,398,649 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $849,195,000 after buying an additional 85,081 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Danaher by 22.7% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,047,728 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $761,475,000 after buying an additional 563,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 1st quarter valued at about $676,545,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total transaction of $255,488.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,130,374.44. This represents a 18.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $230.50 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $206.30 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $262.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $260.57. The firm has a market cap of $166.48 billion, a PE ratio of 43.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.85.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 16.39% and a return on equity of 10.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on DHR. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $333.00 to $311.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Danaher from $278.00 to $277.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wolfe Research raised Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Danaher in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Danaher currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.16.

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.