Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Raises Stock Holdings in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Key Points

• Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its stake in Danaher Corporation by 5.3%, now owning 26,457 shares valued at approximately $5.42 million.
• Various institutional investors, including FAS Wealth Partners and Eos Management, have also significantly increased their holdings in Danaher, with over 79% of the company owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• Danaher recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, yielding 0.62% annually, and had a net margin of 14.21% along with revenue growth of 3.4% year-over-year.

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 5.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,457 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 1,323 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $5,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Danaher by 396.0% in the 1st quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 124 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Sierra Ocean LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 116.9% in the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 141 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE DHR traded up $2.79 on Friday, reaching $205.60. The stock had a trading volume of 5,355,676 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,965,185. The stock has a market cap of $147.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.62. The business's 50-day moving average price is $196.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $203.68. Danaher Corporation has a 12-month low of $171.00 and a 12-month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 14.21%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Danaher's payout ratio is currently 27.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. HSBC lowered their price target on Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Danaher from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Danaher from $240.00 to $235.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Danaher from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $247.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total value of $245,925,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 3,105,808 shares of the company's stock, 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. Insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Danaher 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.