AXQ Capital LP Reduces Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

AXQ Capital LP trimmed its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 14.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,725 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 808 shares during the quarter. AXQ Capital LP’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,085,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 16,940 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,713,000 after purchasing an additional 2,499 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 379,341 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $105,464,000 after purchasing an additional 26,124 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 51,110 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $14,210,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lathrop Investment Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Lathrop Investment Management Corp now owns 25,705 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,147,000 after purchasing an additional 3,125 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price target on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.24.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Up 0.7 %

Danaher stock opened at $211.63 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $196.80 and a twelve month high of $281.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $217.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $238.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.08, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.24%.

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.