Danaher bulks up ahead of spinoff

Article Excerpt

DANAHER CORP. $128 (New York symbol DHR; Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 701.9 million; Market cap: $89.8 billion; Dividend yield: 0.5%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.danaher.com) makes precision-testing equipment and tools. Its major customers include medical research labs, dentists and municipal water utilities. Its brands include Beckman Coulter, ChemTreat, Pantone and KaVo Kerr. In July 2016, Danaher combined its Test & Measurement business with its Industrial Technologies operations and spun off that firm as Fortive Corp. (New York symbol FTV). Shareholders received one share of Fortive for every two Danaher shares they held. Danaher Corp.: Based in Washington, D.C., has 71,000 employees in 60 countries Completed 2 acquisitions in 2018 for a total of $2.2 billion; it purchased 10 businesses in 2017 for $386 million Foreign markets supply over 60% of revenue If you exclude Fortive’s contributions, Danaher’s revenue rose 54.6%, from $12.9 billion in 2014 to $19.9 billion in 2018. Earnings during those five years jumped 63.3%, from $2.29 a share (or a total of $1.64 billion)…