Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Makes New $48.78 Million Investment in Danaher Corporation $DHR

Key Points

• Citizens Financial Group purchased 67,752 Danaher shares worth approximately $48.8 million, making DHR its 28th-largest holding at 0.6% of the portfolio. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 79.05% of Danaher.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $228.91, despite some recent target-price reductions.
• Danaher’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations: earnings were $1.94 per share versus the $1.85 estimate, while revenue rose 5.5% year over year to $6.26 billion.

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 67,752 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $48,784,000. Danaher comprises approximately 0.6% of Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI's holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Danaher by 303.7% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 248,020 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $56,777,000 after purchasing an additional 186,584 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,495,287 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,029,061,000 after purchasing an additional 43,169 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 51.5% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 271,734 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $62,205,000 after purchasing an additional 92,323 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 54,845 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $12,555,000 after buying an additional 6,720 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of Danaher by 10.9% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 289,223 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $55,091,000 after buying an additional 28,425 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on DHR shares. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $230.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Danaher from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Danaher from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their target price on Danaher from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $228.91.

Danaher Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $199.62 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $140.33 billion, a PE ratio of 35.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.78. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $193.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $192.50. Danaher Corporation has a 12-month low of $160.93 and a 12-month high of $242.80.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The conglomerate reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.09. Danaher had a net margin of 15.95% and a return on equity of 11.04%. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Danaher Corporation will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Danaher

Danaher Corporation NYSE: DHR is a global science and technology company that designs, manufactures and markets products and services for the life sciences, diagnostics, and environmental and applied markets. The company organizes its operations into business segments focused on Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental & Applied Solutions, supplying instruments, reagents, software and related services that support research, clinical testing, biopharmaceutical development, and industrial and environmental monitoring.

Products and services in Danaher's portfolio include analytical and diagnostic instruments, laboratory consumables and reagents, digital and software solutions for workflow and data management, field and industrial monitoring equipment, and service and maintenance programs.

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