Danaher Corporation $DHR Stock: NFSG Corp Boosts Holdings

NFSG Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 488.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,091 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,566 shares during the quarter. NFSG Corp’s holdings in Danaher were worth $685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the second quarter worth $10,492,520,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Danaher by 10.4% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,316,834 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,108,031,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542,310 shares during the period. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the second quarter valued at $1,456,317,000. Generation Investment Management LLP bought a new position in Danaher during the 2nd quarter worth $1,287,949,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Danaher during the 2nd quarter worth $993,846,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of Danaher stock traded down $2.63 during trading on Friday, hitting $228.87. 3,516,366 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,667,069. The stock has a market cap of $160.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.65, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.76. Danaher Corporation has a 52 week low of $160.93 and a 52 week high of $242.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $214.04 and its 200-day moving average is $195.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The conglomerate reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.09. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 15.95%. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. Danaher’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Danaher Corporation will post 8.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on DHR. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Danaher from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $212.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.41.

Danaher Profile

Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) is a global science and technology company that develops and manufactures products, services and solutions for the life sciences, diagnostics and biotechnology industries. Its offerings help researchers, healthcare professionals and biopharmaceutical manufacturers discover, develop, produce and analyze medicines and other biological products.

The company operates through businesses that provide laboratory instruments, consumables, software and services, including technologies for cell analysis, genomics, protein research, bioprocessing and clinical diagnostics.