Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Position Raised by Gouws Capital LLC

Gouws Capital LLC increased its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,562 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 425 shares during the period. Danaher accounts for approximately 5.0% of Gouws Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Gouws Capital LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $7,385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Danaher by 7.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,107,030 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $15,009,928,000 after buying an additional 4,163,657 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Danaher by 2.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,964,031 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,490,112,000 after acquiring an additional 139,989 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Danaher by 1.0% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,125,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,279,932,000 after acquiring an additional 52,679 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Danaher by 2.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,398,649 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $849,195,000 after acquiring an additional 85,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Danaher by 22.7% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,047,728 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $761,475,000 after acquiring an additional 563,546 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of DHR stock traded down $8.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $231.35. 1,077,845 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,740,475. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $262.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $260.49. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $206.30 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The stock has a market cap of $167.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.00, a PEG ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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

Danaher Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Danaher from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $278.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Danaher in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.16.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Danaher news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total value of $255,488.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,130,374.44. The trade was a 18.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.