Choreo LLC Raises Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Choreo LLC increased its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 174.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,284 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,089 shares during the quarter. Choreo LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,930,281 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,185,203,000 after acquiring an additional 3,905,449 shares during the period. Allen Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 1,440.7% during the third quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC now owns 1,100,399 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $273,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,028,976 shares during the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Danaher during the third quarter worth $178,850,000. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt purchased a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $161,994,000. Finally, Harris Associates L P grew its holdings in Danaher by 27.7% in the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 2,963,899 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $735,343,000 after purchasing an additional 642,759 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $246.93 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $182.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $248.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $231.90. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $182.09 and a 52 week high of $259.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.20. Danaher had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 11.43%. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.36 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.31%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total value of $636,280.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,029,891.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total transaction of $1,000,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,830 shares in the company, valued at $7,457,798.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total transaction of $636,280.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,029,891.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 106,565 shares of company stock valued at $26,641,364 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHR has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on Danaher from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. TD Cowen increased 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. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on Danaher from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $267.31.

About Danaher

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.