Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) Shares Purchased by Machina Capital S.A.S.

Machina Capital S.A.S. increased its holdings in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 39.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,677 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 4,125 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises approximately 0.9% of Machina Capital S.A.S.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Machina Capital S.A.S.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $3,009,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $2,130,740,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 24,958.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,870,847 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $383,524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,863,381 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in Danaher by 4,248.8% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,639,500 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $376,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,601,800 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Danaher by 32.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,361,183 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,460,215,000 after buying an additional 1,566,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Danaher by 460.6% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,348,544 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $309,558,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107,998 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the chairman directly owned 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at $611,036,665.92. The trade was a 28.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR traded up $2.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $205.60. 5,355,676 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,965,185. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Danaher Corporation has a 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The company's 50 day moving average price is $196.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $203.68. The firm has a market cap of $147.22 billion, a PE ratio of 43.74, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on DHR. Leerink Partners raised their price objective on Danaher from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $220.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Danaher from $210.00 to $205.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $247.61.

About Danaher

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.