First Long Island Investors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

First Long Island Investors LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,651 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 755 shares during the period. First Long Island Investors LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $15,472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Danaher during the second quarter worth $25,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the 2nd quarter worth about $51,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 2nd quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP bought a new stake in Danaher in the first quarter worth about $55,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of DHR traded down $7.38 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $232.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,206,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,741,055. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $206.30 and a one year high of $281.70. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $262.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $260.49. The company has a market capitalization of $167.57 billion, a PE ratio of 45.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.39% and a return on equity of 10.62%. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total transaction of $255,488.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,130,374.44. The trade was a 18.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America increased their price target on Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $278.00 to $277.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.16.

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.