Danaher Corporation $DHR Holdings Decreased by Cooper Investors PTY Ltd.

Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. cut its position in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 18.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 30,694 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 6,741 shares during the period. Danaher accounts for 2.3% of Cooper Investors PTY Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Cooper Investors PTY Ltd.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $7,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Danaher during the third quarter valued at $25,000. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $181.65 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $128.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $209.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $214.70. Danaher Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $171.00 and a fifty-two week high of $242.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.79 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 14.71% and a return on equity of 10.81%. Danaher’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.14 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 27th. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Danaher news, EVP Gregory M. Milosevich sold 1,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.01, for a total value of $274,573.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,099 shares in the company, valued at $1,060,642.99. This represents a 20.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Leerink Partners upped their target price on Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird set a $251.00 price target on Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Argus set a $265.00 price objective on Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.55.

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.