Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Grows Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 135,941 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 158 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Danaher were worth $33,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,928,442 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,460,966,000 after purchasing an additional 2,998,161 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Danaher by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 16,757,558 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,876,694,000 after buying an additional 1,619,586 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in Danaher by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,956,519 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,691,735,000 after buying an additional 1,334,781 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,752,382,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Danaher by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,620,170 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,531,510,000 after buying an additional 395,498 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.00, for a total value of $2,386,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,990 shares in the company, valued at $28,352,350. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.00, for a total value of $2,386,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,990 shares in the company, valued at $28,352,350. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew Mcgrew sold 46,377 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.05, for a total value of $11,735,699.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 29,407 shares in the company, valued at $7,441,441.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 148,783 shares of company stock worth $37,536,717. Corporate insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR stock traded up $4.07 on Thursday, reaching $246.27. The stock had a trading volume of 2,793,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,861,634. The stock has a market cap of $182.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.85. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $255.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $247.32. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $182.09 and a 1 year high of $269.11.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.62 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 16.78%. Danaher’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.36 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on DHR shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. HSBC raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, June 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $295.00 target price for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $268.67.

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 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.