Avalon Investment & Advisory Lowers Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Avalon Investment & Advisory lowered its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 4.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 72,063 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 3,680 shares during the quarter. Avalon Investment & Advisory’s holdings in Danaher were worth $18,163,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Danaher by 96,490.5% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,287,013 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,180,839,000 after purchasing an additional 23,262,904 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth $2,057,164,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Danaher by 98.8% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,364,999 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,158,558,000 after purchasing an additional 2,169,134 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Danaher by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,774,623 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,384,177,000 after purchasing an additional 1,595,344 shares during the period. Finally, Generation Investment Management LLP purchased a new position in Danaher in the 1st quarter worth $374,240,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.71% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 2.6 %

Danaher stock traded down $6.56 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $248.36. The stock had a trading volume of 3,176,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,837,903. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.80. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $221.22 and a 12-month high of $294.60. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $251.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $245.00.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The conglomerate reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.04. Danaher had a net margin of 20.95% and a return on equity of 15.03%. The business had revenue of $7.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.76 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 8.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on DHR. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, September 4th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Danaher from $250.00 to $280.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $292.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $289.79.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 11,213 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.65, for a total transaction of $2,922,668.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,979,767.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Jose-Carlos Gutierrez-Ramos sold 590 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.54, for a total transaction of $147,818.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,939 shares in the company, valued at $1,738,497.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 11,213 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.65, for a total transaction of $2,922,668.45. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,979,767.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,922 shares of company stock valued at $12,552,233 over the last three months. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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; lab filtration, separation, and purification; lab-scale protein purification and analytical tools; reagents, membranes and services; and healthcare filtration solutions.