Woodline Partners LP Grows Position in Danaher Corporation $DHR

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in Danaher Corporation by 11.8%, owning a total of 463,914 shares worth approximately $95.1 million.
• Several institutional investors have recently made significant acquisitions of Danaher shares, with Nuveen LLC acquiring approximately $833.9 million worth in the first quarter.
• Analysts have set a consensus target price for Danaher at $246.35, with 17 out of 20 rating it as a Buy.

Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 11.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 463,914 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 49,143 shares during the quarter. Danaher makes up 0.6% of Woodline Partners LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Woodline Partners LP owned 0.06% of Danaher worth $95,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher by 3.9% in the first quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,712 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $556,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Zeno Equity Partners LLP lifted its holdings in Danaher by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Zeno Equity Partners LLP now owns 192,450 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $39,496,000 after purchasing an additional 18,585 shares in the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new position in Danaher in the 1st quarter worth about $309,000. Ascent Group LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 147.8% in the 1st quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,491 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $921,000 after purchasing an additional 2,679 shares during the period. Finally, Vancity Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in Danaher during the 1st quarter valued at about $23,366,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $210.00 to $205.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Danaher from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Danaher from $240.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $246.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Teri List sold 2,778 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.06, for a total value of $586,324.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,379,706.06. The trade was a 11.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Danaher Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:DHR traded up $2.64 during trading on Thursday, reaching $195.23. 3,425,999 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,039,142. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Danaher Corporation has a 52-week low of $171.00 and a 52-week high of $279.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $139.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.75. The business's fifty day moving average is $201.47 and its 200-day moving average is $199.04.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.83 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 14.21%.Danaher's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. Danaher has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.700-7.800 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 26th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Danaher's payout ratio is presently 27.23%.

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.