Xponance Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 94,101 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,252 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $21,769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of DHR. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 96,490.5% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,287,013 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,180,839,000 after purchasing an additional 23,262,904 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $2,057,164,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Danaher by 18.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,930,281 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,185,203,000 after acquiring an additional 3,905,449 shares during the period. Allen Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 1,440.7% during the third quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC now owns 1,100,399 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $273,009,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028,976 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Danaher during the third quarter worth $178,850,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total transaction of $636,280.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,029,891.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total transaction of $5,986,764.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,601,704. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total value of $636,280.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,244 shares in the company, valued at $1,029,891.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,957 shares of company stock worth $8,265,802 in the last three months. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Danaher Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE DHR traded down $3.03 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $236.36. 4,235,840 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,716,425. The business’s 50 day moving average is $249.28 and its 200-day moving average is $229.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.68. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $182.09 and a 12-month high of $259.00.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 17.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.87 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on DHR. HSBC raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $250.00 to $280.00 in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Danaher from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Raymond James upped their target price on Danaher from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Danaher from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $268.27.

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.