Empower Advisory Group LLC Raises Stake in Danaher Corporation $DHR

Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 8.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,048 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Pacific Capital Partners Ltd bought a new position in Danaher during the 1st quarter worth approximately $7,175,000. Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Danaher during the 1st quarter valued at $305,000. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in Danaher by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 50,365 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,325,000 after buying an additional 2,215 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council grew its holdings in Danaher by 26.0% in the 1st quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 15,982 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,276,000 after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneAscent Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 114.9% in the first quarter. OneAscent Family Office LLC now owns 2,454 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $502,000 after acquiring an additional 1,312 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DHR. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $220.00 target price (down from $245.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Danaher from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.39.

Insider Activity

In other Danaher news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 5,174 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.42, for a total value of $1,088,713.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $552,352.50. The trade was a 66.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 21,776 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.23, for a total transaction of $4,773,952.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,553 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,190,454.19. This represents a 59.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 29,728 shares of company stock worth $6,448,990 over the last three months. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:DHR opened at $221.25 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.62, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Danaher Corporation has a one year low of $171.00 and a one year high of $258.23. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $205.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $201.11.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The conglomerate reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 14.44% and a return on equity of 10.92%. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.71 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 26th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 26th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.39%.

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.