Rockport Wealth LLC Acquires Shares of 2,065 Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Rockport Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 2,065 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $516,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 4,163,657 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Danaher by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,928,442 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,460,966,000 after purchasing an additional 2,998,161 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 16,757,558 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,876,694,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619,586 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,956,519 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,691,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,334,781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $1,752,382,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Up 5.3 %

NYSE:DHR traded up $13.29 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $264.18. 7,515,690 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,905,022. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $182.09 and a twelve month high of $272.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $254.74 and a 200 day moving average of $248.31. The stock has a market cap of $195.68 billion, a PE ratio of 45.50, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.84.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.62 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 16.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.36 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 18.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $295.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Danaher from $266.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $268.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.22, for a total value of $11,756,953.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,908,273.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.22, for a total value of $11,756,953.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,908,273.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total value of $1,000,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 29,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,457,798.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 148,783 shares of company stock valued at $37,536,717. 11.10% of the stock is 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.