Bessemer Securities LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Bessemer Securities LLC cut its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 42.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,666 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,700 shares during the period. Bessemer Securities LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. increased its position in shares of Danaher by 10.9% during the first quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,840 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,420,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its holdings in Danaher by 19.3% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,468 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $724,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 76.8% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 495 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher by 14.1% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 31,530 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $9,248,000 after purchasing an additional 3,897 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 135.9% in the first quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 35,270 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,346,000 after purchasing an additional 20,320 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.71% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of DHR traded up $2.83 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $210.61. 276,258 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,928,481. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $217.93 and its 200-day moving average is $234.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.26. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $182.09 and a fifty-two week high of $281.54. The company has a market cap of $155.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.81.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The conglomerate reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.60 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 20.01% and a return on equity of 13.71%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.56 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 12th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 11th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 13.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DHR has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Danaher from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 26th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $300.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Danaher from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Danaher from $285.00 to $247.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $257.73.

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