Oakworth Capital Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Oakworth Capital Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 14.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 523 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Danaher by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,107,030 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $15,009,928,000 after purchasing an additional 4,163,657 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Danaher by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,964,031 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,490,112,000 after buying an additional 139,989 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Danaher by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,125,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,279,932,000 after buying an additional 52,679 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Danaher by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,398,649 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $849,195,000 after buying an additional 85,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Danaher by 22.7% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,047,728 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $761,475,000 after buying an additional 563,546 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on DHR shares. Stephens started coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $315.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $271.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $282.12.

Danaher Stock Performance

DHR opened at $261.28 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $270.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $260.46. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $182.09 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The stock has a market cap of $193.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.28, a P/E/G ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.31%.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,007 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $2,521,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 97,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,435,240. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,007 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $2,521,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 97,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,435,240. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 9,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,659 shares of company stock worth $11,042,433 in the last three months. Company 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.