Strs Ohio Lowers Stock Holdings in Danaher Corporation $DHR

Key Points

• Strs Ohio trimmed its stake in Danaher by 2.6% in Q4, selling 8,706 shares and finishing the quarter with 324,691 shares valued at about $74.33 million.
• Q1 results: Danaher beat EPS expectations ($2.06 vs. $1.94) while revenue of $5.95 billion slightly missed estimates; revenue was up 3.7% year‑over‑year and analysts project full‑year EPS of 8.43.
• Dividend hike: the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.40 (from $0.32), an $1.60 annualized payout with a ~0.9% yield, and institutional investors now own roughly 79% of the stock.

Strs Ohio lowered its stake in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 324,691 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 8,706 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio's holdings in Danaher were worth $74,328,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1.9% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,758,240 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $3,318,926,000 after buying an additional 312,951 shares during the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP lifted its position in Danaher by 34.0% in the third quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 6,654,666 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,319,354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,689,020 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Danaher by 5.0% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,452,118 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $882,677,000 after purchasing an additional 211,053 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 0.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,369,219 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $866,241,000 after purchasing an additional 28,583 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Danaher by 104.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,333,056 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $991,923,000 after purchasing an additional 2,216,789 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Danaher Trading Down 2.0%

NYSE:DHR opened at $175.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $124.07 billion, a PE ratio of 33.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Danaher Corporation has a 52-week low of $174.60 and a 52-week high of $242.80. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $193.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $213.15.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The conglomerate reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $5.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.91% and a net margin of 14.89%.The business's revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Danaher Corporation will post 8.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 27th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 27th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Danaher's payout ratio is presently 30.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gregory M. Milosevich sold 1,320 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.01, for a total transaction of $274,573.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,099 shares in the company, valued at $1,060,642.99. The trade was a 20.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 10.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DHR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Friday, March 27th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $245.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $265.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Danaher has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $240.70.

Danaher Profile

Danaher Corporation NYSE: DHR is a global science and technology company that designs, manufactures and markets products and services for the life sciences, diagnostics, and environmental and applied markets. The company organizes its operations into business segments focused on Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental & Applied Solutions, supplying instruments, reagents, software and related services that support research, clinical testing, biopharmaceutical development, and industrial and environmental monitoring.

Products and services in Danaher's portfolio include analytical and diagnostic instruments, laboratory consumables and reagents, digital and software solutions for workflow and data management, field and industrial monitoring equipment, and service and maintenance programs.

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