AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Has $34.39 Million Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lowered its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 15.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 149,764 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 27,348 shares during the quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in Danaher were worth $34,387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DHR. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Danaher by 15.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,566,116,000 after buying an additional 3,217,631 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Danaher by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,582,982 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $996,141,000 after acquiring an additional 535,254 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 40,196.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 429,964 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $119,539,000 after purchasing an additional 428,897 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Danaher by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,705,884 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $465,617,000 after purchasing an additional 397,671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 82.4% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 653,375 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $181,651,000 after purchasing an additional 295,187 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR opened at $245.95 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $235.33 and its 200-day moving average is $253.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.65 billion, a PE ratio of 46.94, a PEG ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $225.42 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 16.39%. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on DHR shares. Wolfe Research upgraded Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $309.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $275.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Danaher from $278.00 to $277.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $285.55.

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.