S&CO Inc. Grows Stock Position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Key Points

• S&CO Inc. has significantly increased its stake in Danaher Corporation by 141.2% during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 12,109 shares valued at approximately $2.48 million.
• In its latest quarterly results, Danaher reported earnings per share of $1.80, exceeding analyst expectations, and demonstrated a year-over-year revenue increase of 3.4%.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 0.63% and a payout ratio of 27.23%.

S&CO Inc. boosted its holdings in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 141.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,109 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 7,089 shares during the quarter. S&CO Inc.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $2,482,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 396.0% in 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. Sierra Ocean LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 116.9% in 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. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the first quarter worth about $31,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DHR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Danaher from $265.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Danaher from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $275.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group decreased 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. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $247.61.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,179 shares of the company's stock, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the chairman directly owned 3,105,808 shares of the company's stock, 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 11.20% of the company's stock.

Danaher Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of Danaher stock traded up $3.89 on Tuesday, hitting $206.83. 4,973,284 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,983,126. Danaher Corporation has a one year low of $171.00 and a one year high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The company has a fifty day moving average of $196.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $203.24. The company has a market capitalization of $148.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Danaher's payout ratio is 27.23%.

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.