Ninety One UK Ltd Has $16.76 Million Holdings in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Ninety One UK Ltd cut its position in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 39.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 81,734 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 52,455 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd's holdings in Danaher were worth $16,755,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $13,715,641,000 after purchasing an additional 315,912 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,056,996,000 after acquiring an additional 315,446 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,783,485 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,800,614,000 after acquiring an additional 194,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,934,991 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,821,477,000 after acquiring an additional 992,594 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Trading Up 2.8%

Danaher stock traded up $5.66 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $206.62. 1,131,093 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,493,062. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.43. Danaher Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $171.00 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.10, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.77. The firm's 50 day moving average is $195.77 and its 200-day moving average is $206.81.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. Danaher had a net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 10.80%. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. On average, analysts predict that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is 24.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,179 shares in the company, valued at $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Leerink Partners raised their price objective on Danaher from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group dropped their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research dropped their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $220.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Danaher from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $248.00.

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.