Danaher Corporation $DHR Shares Purchased by Portland Investment Counsel Inc.

Portland Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 59,754 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises about 3.5% of Portland Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Portland Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $11,817,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Danaher by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,769,587 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,004,424,000 after purchasing an additional 788,499 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Danaher by 3.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,592,211 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,016,404,000 after acquiring an additional 612,154 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 0.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,726,194 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,697,800,000 after acquiring an additional 81,670 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,979,503,000. Finally, Generation Investment Management LLP grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 56.2% during the 2nd quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 4,965,646 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $980,914,000 after purchasing an additional 1,787,522 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE DHR opened at $228.41 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $211.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $202.99. The company has a market capitalization of $161.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.81. Danaher Corporation has a 12 month low of $171.00 and a 12 month high of $258.23. 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 (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The conglomerate reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.17. Danaher had a net margin of 14.44% and a return on equity of 10.92%. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.71 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 26th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. 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 26.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $247.00 price objective on Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $241.00 target price on Danaher in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Danaher currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Danaher news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 5,174 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $552,352.50. This trade represents a 66.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Teri List sold 3,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.50, for a total value of $746,997.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,702,593. This represents a 13.71% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 30,248 shares of company stock valued at $6,609,663 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher 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.