Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) is LS Investment Advisors LLC’s 9th Largest Position

LS Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 59,781 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,618 shares during the period. Danaher accounts for approximately 2.5% of LS Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $16,620,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norden Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the first quarter valued at approximately $276,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Danaher by 18.6% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 71,432 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $17,838,000 after acquiring an additional 11,221 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 84.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 15,179 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,790,000 after acquiring an additional 6,932 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the first quarter valued at approximately $344,000. Finally, Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the first quarter valued at approximately $286,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Danaher news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares in the company, valued at $1,130,374.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 0.7 %

DHR opened at $246.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.37. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $192.35 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $265.79 and its 200 day moving average is $260.75. The stock has a market cap of $177.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.85.

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

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 20.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DHR has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Danaher from $278.00 to $277.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.16.

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.