Sandhill Capital Partners LLC Sells 28,690 Shares of Danaher Corporation $DHR

Sandhill Capital Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 117,431 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 28,690 shares during the period. Danaher accounts for about 1.6% of Sandhill Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $23,282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,979,503,000. Viking Global Investors LP grew its position in shares of Danaher by 543.9% during the 2nd quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,907,515 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $574,351,000 after purchasing an additional 2,455,994 shares in the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 56.2% in the second quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 4,965,646 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $980,914,000 after purchasing an additional 1,787,522 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 924.2% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 1,239,320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $244,815,000 after purchasing an additional 1,118,318 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Danaher by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,769,587 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $12,004,424,000 after buying an additional 788,499 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other Danaher news, EVP Gregory M. Milosevich sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.01, for a total transaction of $274,573.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,099 shares in the company, valued at $1,060,642.99. This trade represents a 20.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on DHR. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Danaher from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Danaher from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Argus set a $265.00 price objective on Danaher in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $253.86.

Danaher Stock Down 3.2%

DHR opened at $195.60 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $222.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $215.99. Danaher Corporation has a 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 week high of $242.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $138.32 billion, a PE ratio of 38.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.93.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.79 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 14.71%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.14 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 27th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 27th. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 25.40%.

Danaher Company Profile

Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) is a global science and technology company that designs, manufactures and markets products and services for the life sciences, diagnostics, and environmental and applied markets. The company organizes its operations into business segments focused on Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental & Applied Solutions, supplying instruments, reagents, software and related services that support research, clinical testing, biopharmaceutical development, and industrial and environmental monitoring.

Products and services in Danaher’s portfolio include analytical and diagnostic instruments, laboratory consumables and reagents, digital and software solutions for workflow and data management, field and industrial monitoring equipment, and service and maintenance programs.