Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP Trims Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP lowered its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 60.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,040 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,575 shares during the period. Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP’s holdings in Danaher were worth $241,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,930,281 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,185,203,000 after buying an additional 3,905,449 shares during the last quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 1,440.7% during the 3rd quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC now owns 1,100,399 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $273,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,028,976 shares during the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher during the 3rd quarter valued at $178,850,000. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt purchased a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at $161,994,000. Finally, Harris Associates L P boosted its stake in Danaher by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 2,963,899 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $735,343,000 after purchasing an additional 642,759 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE:DHR traded down $2.70 on Wednesday, reaching $250.41. 3,064,441 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,783,958. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $248.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $230.64. The firm has a market cap of $185.44 billion, a PE ratio of 39.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $182.09 and a 12 month high of $259.00.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.62 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 17.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.36 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America increased their target price on Danaher from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup increased their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. HSBC raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $250.00 to $280.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $270.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Teri List sold 3,289 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.32, for a total transaction of $816,724.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,726 shares in the company, valued at $4,898,360.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total value of $5,986,764.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,102 shares in the company, valued at $9,601,704. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Teri List sold 3,289 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.32, for a total value of $816,724.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,898,360.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,957 shares of company stock worth $8,265,802 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

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.