First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Acquires 2,856 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 30.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,131 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,856 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $2,806,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 1,899 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $439,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,485 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 10,888 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,519,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Trust Investment Advisors increased its holdings in Danaher by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 2,811 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $650,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Austin Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Danaher by 3.4% in the third quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,566 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total value of $636,280.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,029,891.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,995 shares in the company, valued at $28,908,273.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total value of $636,280.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,029,891.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 106,565 shares of company stock worth $26,641,364 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Up 0.1 %

DHR stock traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $246.93. 2,310,078 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,779,894. The stock has a market cap of $182.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $182.09 and a fifty-two week high of $259.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $248.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $231.79.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.20. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 16.78%. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.36 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 18.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DHR. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Raymond James raised their target price on Danaher from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Danaher from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Danaher has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.64.

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.