Blue Whale Capital LLP Sells 17,500 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Blue Whale Capital LLP trimmed its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 8.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 185,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 17,500 shares during the quarter. Danaher accounts for about 4.1% of Blue Whale Capital LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Blue Whale Capital LLP’s holdings in Danaher were worth $46,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tsfg LLC boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 733.3% in the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 100 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Danaher during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the first quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Down 1.4 %

DHR opened at $272.63 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $267.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $257.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.93 billion, a PE ratio of 46.21, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $182.09 and a 1-year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.05 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 18.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on DHR. Bank of America lifted their target price on Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Danaher from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,130,374.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total value of $255,488.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,130,374.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 9,600 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.16, for a total transaction of $2,641,536.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,566,486.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,659 shares of company stock worth $11,042,433. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.