Forsta AP Fonden Trims Holdings in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden reduced its stake in Danaher Corporation by 3.6%, selling 5,600 shares and holding 147,922 shares valued at approximately $30.3 million.
• Danaher recently reported $1.80 EPS, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.64, with revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter.
• Institutional investors collectively own 79.05% of Danaher's stock, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.

Forsta AP Fonden trimmed its stake in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 3.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 147,922 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 5,600 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Danaher were worth $30,324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 192,731 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $44,241,000 after buying an additional 35,730 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its stake in Danaher by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 21,108 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $4,845,000 after buying an additional 2,107 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P lifted its stake in Danaher by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 1,507 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP lifted its stake in Danaher by 38.6% in the fourth quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 17,685 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $4,060,000 after buying an additional 4,923 shares during the period. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Danaher by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 373,940 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $85,840,000 after buying an additional 47,447 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on DHR. HSBC cut their price target on Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Danaher from $240.00 to $235.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $225.00 target price (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $247.61.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DHR traded up $2.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $200.70. The company had a trading volume of 2,963,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,823,699. The company has a market capitalization of $143.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 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 current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $198.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $200.94.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion during 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chairman owned 3,105,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

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.