First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Grows Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 7.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,925 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,186 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $4,984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DHR. Claro Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $255,000. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Danaher by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 11,586 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,893,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the first quarter valued at $30,000. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the 1st quarter valued at about $4,151,000. Finally, Advisor Resource Council purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 1st quarter worth approximately $260,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR traded down $0.52 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $242.17. 704,949 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,733,801. The company has a market cap of $179.37 billion, a PE ratio of 41.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $188.75 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $268.40 and a 200 day moving average of $260.55.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. Danaher’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.59 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on DHR shares. KeyCorp increased their price target on Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Danaher from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Danaher from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $287.28.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, CFO Matthew Mcgrew sold 16,172 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.84, for a total transaction of $4,525,572.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 29,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,229,254.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Matthew Mcgrew sold 16,172 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.84, for a total transaction of $4,525,572.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,229,254.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total value of $255,488.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,212 shares in the company, valued at $1,130,374.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,052 shares of company stock worth $5,878,937 over the last ninety days. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher 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.