Advisors Preferred LLC Invests $761,000 in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,800 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $761,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 22.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 192,731 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $44,241,000 after acquiring an additional 35,730 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 402,244 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $92,335,000 after buying an additional 22,903 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 12,749 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $2,927,000 after buying an additional 736 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 864 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $202,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Up 1.4%

DHR stock traded up $2.79 during trading on Friday, hitting $205.60. 5,355,676 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,965,185. Danaher Corporation has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The firm's 50 day moving average is $196.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $203.68. The stock has a market cap of $147.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.16. Danaher had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. Danaher's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $225.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $247.61.

Insider Activity

In other Danaher news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total transaction of $245,925,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,179 shares in the company, valued at $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.10% of the stock is currently 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.