Sapient Capital LLC Buys New Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 1,892 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $438,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new position in Danaher during the 3rd quarter valued at about $683,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 26,611 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,156,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Cercano Management LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Cercano Management LLC now owns 202,569 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $46,862,000 after purchasing an additional 20,715 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 296,996 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $68,707,000 after purchasing an additional 96,395 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Danaher by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,080 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $764,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Danaher news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, 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 hyperlink. In related news, Director Alan G. Spoon sold 708 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total value of $172,454.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 116,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,304,483.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were 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 directly owns 115,995 shares in the company, valued at $28,908,273.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 107,273 shares of company stock valued at $26,813,819. Insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on DHR. Barclays boosted their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America increased their price target on Danaher from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. HSBC upgraded shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $267.31.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $248.38 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.97 billion, a PE ratio of 42.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $248.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $232.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.85. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $182.09 and a twelve month high of $259.00.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 16.78%. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.36 earnings per share. Danaher’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 18.31%.

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.