Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 3.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,577 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 520 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $3,645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the second quarter worth about $363,000. Caden Capital Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Caden Capital Partners LP now owns 139,068 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $32,172,000 after purchasing an additional 15,313 shares during the last quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 572,858 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $132,524,000 after purchasing an additional 55,908 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $2,614,000. Finally, Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the first quarter worth about $4,151,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR opened at $276.06 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $199.37 billion, a PE ratio of 46.79, a P/E/G ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $265.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $256.67. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $182.09 and a 1-year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.05 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.59 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. Danaher’s payout ratio is 18.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total transaction of $255,488.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,130,374.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total transaction of $255,488.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,130,374.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,007 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $2,521,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 97,983 shares in the company, valued at $27,435,240. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,659 shares of company stock valued at $11,042,433 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on DHR. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Danaher from $271.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Danaher in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $295.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Danaher in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $280.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.94.

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.