Liontrust Investment Partners LLP Reduces Stock Position in Danaher Corporation $DHR

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP decreased its position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 49.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 47,891 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 46,551 shares during the period. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP’s holdings in Danaher were worth $9,080,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,681,334 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,345,529,000 after buying an additional 472,608 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,246,008 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,177,386,000 after buying an additional 1,487,768 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,973,240 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,656,595,000 after buying an additional 1,334,221 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Danaher by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,076,796 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,451,380,000 after acquiring an additional 1,517,904 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,177,106,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Trading Down 0.1%

DHR stock opened at $196.29 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $137.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.87, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $187.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $195.66. Danaher Corporation has a 52 week low of $160.93 and a 52 week high of $242.80.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.09. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 15.95%.The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Danaher Corporation will post 8.53 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 26th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 26th. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 28.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group cut their price target on Danaher from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wolfe Research lowered Danaher from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Barclays reduced their target price on Danaher from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.91.

About Danaher

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.