Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) Shares Acquired by Weitz Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Weitz Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Danaher Corporation by 23.2% in Q1, owning 496,650 shares valued at approximately $101.81 million.
• Danaher reported $1.80 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.64, with a revenue of $5.94 billion.
• The company has a market capitalization of $141.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.93, and has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.32, translating to an annual yield of 0.6%.

Weitz Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 23.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 496,650 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 93,440 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises about 5.4% of Weitz Investment Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Weitz Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.07% of Danaher worth $101,813,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DHR. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 24,958.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,870,847 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $383,524,000 after buying an additional 1,863,381 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 4,248.8% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,639,500 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $376,347,000 after buying an additional 1,601,800 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Danaher by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,361,183 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,460,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566,658 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 460.6% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,348,544 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $309,558,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107,998 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth about $242,837,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on DHR shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Danaher from $210.00 to $205.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Leerink Partners raised their price objective on Danaher from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Argus lowered their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $247.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chairman directly owned 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. The trade was a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE DHR traded up $1.69 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $199.15. 4,001,120 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,702,217. Danaher Corporation has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year 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 company has a market capitalization of $142.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.73. The business's 50 day moving average is $197.75 and its 200-day moving average is $201.87.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 14.21%. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. The business's revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.