Edgewood Management LLC Sells 118,624 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Edgewood Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,383,468 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 118,624 shares during the period. Danaher accounts for approximately 4.8% of Edgewood Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Edgewood Management LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,774,732,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Danaher in the second quarter worth $25,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the second quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the second quarter worth about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $234.76 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.56 billion, a PE ratio of 44.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $258.92 and a 200 day moving average of $259.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.37. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $215.68 and a 52-week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 16.39%. The business’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 20.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total transaction of $255,488.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,130,374.44. This represents a 18.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on DHR. TD Cowen increased their price target on Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wolfe Research raised shares of Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.16.

Danaher 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.