Gabelli Funds LLC Has $5.34 Million Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Gabelli Funds LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 2.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 21,385 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 530 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $5,340,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Danaher by 7.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,107,030 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $15,009,928,000 after buying an additional 4,163,657 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Danaher by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,928,442 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,460,966,000 after purchasing an additional 2,998,161 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Danaher by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 16,757,558 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,876,694,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619,586 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,956,519 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,691,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,334,781 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $1,752,382,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of Danaher stock traded up $3.82 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $273.91. 2,810,147 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,314,172. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $255.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $249.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $197.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.43, a PEG ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $182.09 and a 12-month high of $277.72.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.15. Danaher had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Danaher from $297.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $266.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related news, Director Alan G. Spoon sold 708 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total value of $172,454.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 116,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,304,483.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 9,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.16, for a total transaction of $2,641,536.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $5,566,486.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Alan G. Spoon sold 708 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total value of $172,454.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 116,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,304,483.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 84,775 shares of company stock worth $21,802,690 over the last ninety days. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.