Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Blair William & Co. IL

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL reduced its stake in Danaher Corporation by 16.0%, now holding 1,443,780 shares worth approximately $295.98 million.
• Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of Danaher, resulting in a 28.70% decrease in his ownership, valued at over $245.9 million.
• Analysts have set a range of target prices for Danaher, with recent estimates dropping from $260.00 to as low as $225.00, while the stock maintains an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

Blair William & Co. IL trimmed its stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 16.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,443,780 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 274,101 shares during the period. Danaher makes up about 0.9% of Blair William & Co. IL's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Blair William & Co. IL owned about 0.20% of Danaher worth $295,975,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DHR. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Danaher by 24,958.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,870,847 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $383,524,000 after purchasing an additional 1,863,381 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in Danaher by 4,248.8% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,639,500 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $376,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,601,800 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Danaher by 32.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,361,183 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,460,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566,658 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Danaher by 460.6% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,348,544 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $309,558,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107,998 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $242,837,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Leerink Partners lifted their price target on Danaher from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Danaher from $210.00 to $205.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Danaher from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, HSBC cut their price target on Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Danaher has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $247.61.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR traded down $2.26 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $196.78. The company had a trading volume of 1,920,282 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,288,732. The stock has a market cap of $140.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.73. Danaher Corporation has a twelve month low of $171.00 and a twelve month high of $279.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $197.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $201.85.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.16. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 14.21%. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total transaction of $245,925,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 11.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Danaher Company 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.