Fifth Third Bancorp Grows Stock Position in Danaher Corporation $DHR

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp increased its Danaher stake by 24.8% in the first quarter, adding 118,435 shares and bringing its total holding to 596,529 shares worth about $113.1 million.
• Institutional ownership in Danaher remains very high, with hedge funds and other institutions owning about 79.05% of the stock after several major firms boosted their positions.
• Analysts remain cautiously positive on DHR, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.64, while the stock recently traded near $199 after posting solid quarterly earnings and announcing a $0.40 quarterly dividend.

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 24.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 596,529 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 118,435 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp owned 0.08% of Danaher worth $113,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in Danaher by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,681,334 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $6,345,529,000 after purchasing an additional 472,608 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Danaher by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,246,008 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $4,177,386,000 after buying an additional 1,487,768 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Danaher by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,973,240 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,656,595,000 after buying an additional 1,334,221 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Danaher by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,076,796 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,451,380,000 after buying an additional 1,517,904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $2,177,106,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $205.00 price target on Danaher in a report on Friday, April 17th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Danaher from $245.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wolfe Research lowered Danaher from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, July 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $231.64.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR traded up $3.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $199.11. 3,847,629 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,706,558. The stock has a market cap of $140.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.79. Danaher Corporation has a 1-year low of $160.93 and a 1-year high of $242.80. The company has a 50 day moving average of $180.59 and a 200-day moving average of $199.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.87.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 20th. The conglomerate reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.91% and a net margin of 14.89%.The company had revenue of $5.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.88 EPS. Danaher's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Danaher Corporation will post 8.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 26th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.95%.

Danaher Profile

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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