Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Buys 5,533 Shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Key Points

• Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Danaher Corporation by 14.5%, owning a total of 43,641 shares valued at approximately $8.95 million.
• Danaher reported $1.80 earnings per share for the most recent quarter, exceeding expectations and reflecting a 3.4% year-over-year revenue increase to $5.94 billion.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 0.62%.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 14.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,641 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 5,533 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $8,946,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DHR. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Danaher by 396.0% in the 1st quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 124 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Sierra Ocean LLC grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 116.9% during the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 141 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher in the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Danaher stock opened at $205.60 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.74, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $196.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $203.68. Danaher Corporation has a 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.16. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 14.21%. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th were given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Danaher's payout ratio is 27.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,005,442. The trade was a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total value of $245,925,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on DHR. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group cut their target price on Danaher from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Danaher from $240.00 to $235.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Wolfe Research lowered their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $220.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Danaher from $265.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $247.61.

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.

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