National Bank of Canada FI Buys 221,287 Shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Key Points

• National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Danaher Corporation by 54.3%, acquiring an additional 221,287 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately $128.86 million.
• Several other institutional investors have significantly increased their holdings in Danaher, with GAMMA Investing LLC boosting its stake by 24,958.2% in the first quarter.
• Danaher recently reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, with revenue up 3.4% year-over-year at $5.94 billion.

National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 54.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 628,625 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 221,287 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.09% of Danaher worth $128,864,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. Hirtle Callaghan & Co LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the first quarter worth approximately $1,078,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in Danaher by 707.0% in the 1st quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 171,931 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $35,253,000 after purchasing an additional 150,627 shares during the period. AlphaCore Capital LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 168.9% in the 1st quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 9,766 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $2,002,000 after purchasing an additional 6,134 shares during the period. Fayez Sarofim & Co boosted its stake in Danaher by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 8,454 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,733,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,145,711 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $234,871,000 after buying an additional 122,015 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR traded up $1.72 on Wednesday, hitting $207.44. 1,468,745 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,250,634. The company's 50 day moving average price is $198.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $200.34. Danaher Corporation has a one year low of $171.00 and a one year high of $279.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.20, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.73.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.83 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The firm's revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.72 EPS. Research analysts expect that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Scotiabank raised shares of Danaher from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $247.61.

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.