Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Lowers Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lessened its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,451,433 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 96 shares during the period. Danaher comprises 0.7% of Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned about 0.20% of Danaher worth $362,641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tsfg LLC raised its position in Danaher by 733.3% in the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 100 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $272.63 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $267.62 and its 200 day moving average is $257.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $201.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.21, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $182.09 and a 52-week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.15. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 16.94%. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.05 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.31%.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,130,374.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Danaher news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,007 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $2,521,960.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 97,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,435,240. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was 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 directly owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,130,374.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,659 shares of company stock valued at $11,042,433 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DHR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Danaher from $266.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Danaher in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Danaher from $271.00 to $278.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Danaher from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.94.

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.