Legal & General Group Plc Grows Stake in Danaher Corporation $DHR

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Danaher by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, buying 43,169 more shares and bringing its total to 4,495,287 shares valued at about $1.03 billion.
• Other major institutional investors also boosted their Danaher positions, and 79.05% of the stock is now held by hedge funds and other institutions.
• Danaher beat earnings expectations with $2.06 EPS versus the $1.94 consensus, while revenue came in slightly below forecasts at $5.95 billion; analysts still maintain a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target price of $238.65.

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,495,287 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 43,169 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.64% of Danaher worth $1,029,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DHR. Viking Global Investors LP lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 543.9% during the 2nd quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,907,515 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $574,351,000 after buying an additional 2,455,994 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 104.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,333,056 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $991,923,000 after buying an additional 2,216,789 shares in the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 34.0% during the 3rd quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 6,654,666 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,319,354,000 after buying an additional 1,689,020 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 211.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,088,089 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $414,038,000 after buying an additional 1,418,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 33.9% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,519,013 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $697,680,000 after buying an additional 891,210 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on DHR shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Evercore upped their price target on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wolfe Research dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $235.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $238.65.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $172.12 on Monday. Danaher Corporation has a 1 year low of $160.93 and a 1 year high of $242.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.82 billion, a PE ratio of 33.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.81. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $183.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $208.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The conglomerate reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. Danaher had a net margin of 14.89% and a return on equity of 10.91%. The business had revenue of $5.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Danaher Corporation will post 8.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 26th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. 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 0.9%. 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DHR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report).

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.