R Squared Ltd Boosts Stock Position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Key Points

• R Squared Ltd increased its position in Danaher Corporation by 488.9% during the first quarter, owning a total of 2,120 shares valued at approximately $435,000.
• Wall Street analysts show a positive outlook for Danaher, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $247.61, reflecting recent upgrades from multiple brokerages.
• Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1.25 million shares at an average price of $196.74, resulting in a significant reduction of his ownership by 28.70%.

R Squared Ltd increased its holdings in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 488.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,120 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 1,760 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd's holdings in Danaher were worth $435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 396.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Sierra Ocean LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 116.9% in the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 141 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Danaher Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of DHR stock traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $197.50. The company had a trading volume of 3,176,914 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,662,791. The firm has a market cap of $141.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.73. Danaher Corporation has a 1-year low of $171.00 and a 1-year high of $279.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The company has a 50 day moving average of $197.49 and a 200 day moving average of $202.16.

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

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Danaher's payout ratio is currently 27.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DHR. HSBC decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $225.00 price objective (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Danaher from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $247.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total transaction of $245,925,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 3,105,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $611,036,665.92. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Danaher Company 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.