BlueSpruce Investments LP Reduces Holdings in Danaher Corporation $DHR

BlueSpruce Investments LP reduced its position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 57.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 908,063 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,207,762 shares during the period. Danaher makes up about 4.1% of BlueSpruce Investments LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. BlueSpruce Investments LP’s holdings in Danaher were worth $180,033,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $462,000. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC raised its stake in Danaher by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 249,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $49,262,000 after acquiring an additional 3,862 shares during the period. Weitz Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Danaher by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 526,950 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $104,094,000 after acquiring an additional 30,300 shares during the period. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in Danaher by 49.4% during the 3rd quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 25,340 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,024,000 after purchasing an additional 8,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in Danaher by 2.9% during the third quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 664,705 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $131,784,000 after purchasing an additional 18,744 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Argus set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Leerink Partners raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, December 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Danaher from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.55.

Insider Activity

In other Danaher 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,099 shares in the company, valued at $1,060,642.99. This represents a 20.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Danaher Stock Up 0.6%

DHR stock opened at $187.34 on Friday. Danaher Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $171.00 and a fifty-two week 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 stock has a market capitalization of $132.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.17, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.93. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $218.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $215.41.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.09. Danaher had a net margin of 14.71% and a return on equity of 10.81%. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.14 earnings per share. Danaher’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 27th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 27th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 25.40%.

Danaher Company Profile

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.