Zeno Equity Partners LLP Makes New Investment in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Zeno Equity Partners LLP acquired a new position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 106,941 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $24,740,000. Danaher comprises 6.0% of Zeno Equity Partners LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 9,128 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,112,000 after buying an additional 1,533 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in Danaher by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 26,611 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,156,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Cercano Management LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Cercano Management LLC now owns 202,569 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $46,862,000 after buying an additional 20,715 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 296,996 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $68,707,000 after buying an additional 96,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Alan G. Spoon sold 708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total transaction of $172,454.64. Following the sale, the director now owns 116,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,304,483.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Alan G. Spoon sold 708 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total value of $172,454.64. Following the transaction, the director now owns 116,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,304,483.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.22, for a total transaction of $11,756,953.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,908,273.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,783 shares of company stock valued at $37,536,717 in the last 90 days. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Danaher Stock Down 0.1 %

DHR stock traded down $0.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $254.85. 3,097,194 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,930,997. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $182.09 and a 1 year high of $269.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $253.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $244.30. The stock has a market cap of $188.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

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

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 18.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, June 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $295.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. HSBC upgraded shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $250.00 to $280.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $269.29.

Danaher Company 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.