Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Grows Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR – Free Report) by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,688 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,830 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $7,917,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,107,030 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $15,009,928,000 after purchasing an additional 4,163,657 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,928,442 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,460,966,000 after buying an additional 2,998,161 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Danaher by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 16,757,558 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,876,694,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619,586 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Danaher by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,956,519 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,691,735,000 after acquiring an additional 1,334,781 shares during the period. Finally, Edgewood Management LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 6,381,293 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,476,248,000 after acquiring an additional 454,950 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Danaher from $266.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America raised their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.94.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Danaher

Danaher Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $272.48 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $265.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $256.78. The company has a market cap of $201.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $182.09 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 16.94%. The company’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.05 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 18.31%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of Danaher 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,130,374.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Linda Filler sold 3,928 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.50, for a total value of $1,097,876.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 41,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,501,145.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,130,374.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 39,659 shares of company stock worth $11,042,433. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Danaher

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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