Prudential PLC Boosts Holdings in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Key Points

• Prudential PLC increased its stake in Danaher Corporation by 21.5%, now holding 69,116 shares valued at approximately $14.17 million.
• Recent financial results showed Danaher beat analysts' earnings expectations with an EPS of $1.80 and a revenue of $5.94 billion, reflecting a 3.4% year-over-year increase.
• Analyst ratings for Danaher are generally positive, with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $247.61.

Prudential PLC boosted its stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 21.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 69,116 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 12,241 shares during the period. Prudential PLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $14,169,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Danaher by 396.0% during the first quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 124 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Sierra Ocean LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 116.9% during the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 141 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 68.4% during the first quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 165 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Danaher Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Danaher stock traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $210.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,210,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,658,279. 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 stock's fifty day simple moving average is $199.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $199.87. Danaher Corporation has a one year low of $171.00 and a one year high of $279.90. The company has a market capitalization of $150.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.73.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.83 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DHR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $210.00 to $205.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. HSBC decreased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Leerink Partners increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Argus reduced their price target on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.