Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Position Increased by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd increased its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 158,750 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 4,923 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises about 1.3% of AIA Group Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Danaher were worth $39,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 9,128 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,112,000 after buying an additional 1,533 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in Danaher by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 26,611 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,156,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Cercano Management LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Cercano Management LLC now owns 202,569 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $46,862,000 after buying an additional 20,715 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 296,996 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $68,707,000 after purchasing an additional 96,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher by 5.8% in the first quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 1,469 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 4,000 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total transaction of $1,000,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 29,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,457,798.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Danaher news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.22, for a total transaction of $11,756,953.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,908,273.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 4,000 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total transaction of $1,000,040.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,457,798.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,783 shares of company stock worth $37,536,717 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised their price target on Danaher from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays raised their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Danaher from $266.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $268.67.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR traded up $0.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $246.70. The stock had a trading volume of 2,519,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,859,258. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $255.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $247.42. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $182.09 and a 52 week high of $269.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.73 billion, a PE ratio of 41.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. Danaher had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 11.43%. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.36 EPS. Danaher’s revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.31%.

Danaher Company Profile

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.