Franklin Resources Inc. Has $2.10 Billion Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 3.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,743,802 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 286,168 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises about 0.6% of Franklin Resources Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $2,103,056,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,566,116,000 after buying an additional 3,217,631 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 2.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,964,031 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,490,112,000 after acquiring an additional 139,989 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 3.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,097,986 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,417,342,000 after purchasing an additional 148,251 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 2.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,552,640 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,265,725,000 after purchasing an additional 116,299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Danaher by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,582,982 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $996,141,000 after purchasing an additional 535,254 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:DHR opened at $234.50 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $247.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $257.62. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $219.15 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.37 billion, a PE ratio of 44.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.39% and a return on equity of 10.62%. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Danaher in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $280.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $278.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.