Blue Whale Capital LLP Has $75.69 Million Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Blue Whale Capital LLP increased its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 27.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 329,746 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 70,280 shares during the period. Danaher comprises approximately 5.6% of Blue Whale Capital LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Blue Whale Capital LLP’s holdings in Danaher were worth $75,693,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,874,000 after buying an additional 2,202 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 1,212.8% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $636,000 after acquiring an additional 2,559 shares during the last quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $8,044,000. Compass Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Danaher by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Compass Capital Management Inc. now owns 237,922 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $54,615,000 after purchasing an additional 10,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Channing Global Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Channing Global Advisors LLC now owns 5,666 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,301,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.24.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $181.42 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $209.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.73. The company has a market cap of $129.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.36, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $165.17 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.24%.

Danaher 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.