Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC reduced its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 2.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 321,871 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 9,728 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $80,378,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DHR. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Tsfg LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 733.3% during the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 100 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Danaher during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DHR traded up $1.58 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $265.76. The stock had a trading volume of 4,067,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,913,324. The stock has a market cap of $196.85 billion, a PE ratio of 45.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $254.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $248.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.85. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $182.09 and a one year high of $272.98.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 16.78%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.05 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 18.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 19,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $4,866,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,578,725. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Danaher news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 19,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $4,866,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,578,725. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew Mcgrew sold 46,377 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.05, for a total value of $11,735,699.85. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 29,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,441,441.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 97,608 shares of company stock worth $24,779,724 in the last three months. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Danaher from $271.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America boosted their price target on Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Danaher from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Danaher from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $276.88.

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.