Scotia Capital Inc. Raises Holdings in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Key Points

• Scotia Capital Inc. increased its stake in Danaher Corporation by 12.4% in the first quarter, buying an additional 46,371 shares to reach 420,311 shares valued at approximately $86.16 million.
• Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1.25 million shares of Danaher, representing a 28.70% decrease in his ownership, totaling $245.93 million in the transaction.
• Analysts have mixed views on Danaher's stock, with price targets ranging from $220.00 to $248.00, and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" as they predict earnings per share of 7.63 for the current year.

Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 12.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 420,311 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 46,371 shares during the quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Danaher worth $86,164,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the first quarter worth about $164,000. Liberty Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the first quarter worth about $3,494,000. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. raised its holdings in Danaher by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. now owns 42,545 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $8,722,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd raised its holdings in Danaher by 488.9% in the 1st quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 2,120 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760 shares during the period. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. raised its holdings in Danaher by 79.5% in the 1st quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 15,721 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $3,223,000 after purchasing an additional 6,964 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other news, 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 transaction of $245,925,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at $611,036,665.92. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Leerink Partners upped their price target on Danaher from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. TD Cowen upped their price target on Danaher from $240.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research reduced their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $220.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Danaher from $265.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $225.00 target price (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Danaher has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $247.61.

Danaher Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $197.08 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.93, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.73. Danaher Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $171.00 and a fifty-two week 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $197.49 and a 200 day moving average of $202.44.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion during 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, research 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 was paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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