Danaher Corporation $DHR Stock Acquired by AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc

Key Points

• AEGON Asset Management UK increased its Danaher stake by 24% in the third quarter, adding 9,519 shares to bring its holdings to 49,192 shares, valued at about $10.9 million.
• Danaher reported quarterly earnings of $2.11 per share, beating the $1.92 consensus estimate; revenue rose 8.3% year over year to $6.55 billion, slightly below expectations.
• Analyst sentiment was broadly positive: 18 analysts rated the stock a Buy and five a Hold, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $242.91.

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc boosted its position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 24.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,192 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 9,519 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in Danaher were worth $10,898,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher during the second quarter valued at about $10,492,520,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Danaher by 10.4% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,316,834 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $3,108,031,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542,310 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the second quarter worth about $1,456,317,000. Generation Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in Danaher during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,287,949,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Danaher during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $993,846,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Christopher Bouda sold 7,598 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.56, for a total value of $1,782,186.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,107 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,136,137.92. The trade was a 45.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 10.80% of the company's stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $235.21 on Tuesday. Danaher Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $160.93 and a fifty-two week high of $242.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.76. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $220.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $201.57.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The conglomerate reported $2.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.92 by $0.19. Danaher had a net margin of 16.91% and a return on equity of 11.17%. The business had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Danaher Corporation will post 8.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. Danaher's payout ratio is 26.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on DHR. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on Danaher from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $242.91.

About Danaher

Danaher is a global science and technology company that develops and supplies products and services for biotechnology, life sciences, and diagnostics markets. Its offerings include instruments, reagents, consumables, software, and services used in research, drug development and manufacturing, and clinical testing.

The company's businesses include well-known brands such as Cytiva and Pall in bioprocessing and filtration, Beckman Coulter in laboratory and clinical diagnostics, Cepheid in molecular diagnostics, and Leica Microsystems in microscopy.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.