Cabot Wealth Management Inc. Increases Holdings in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Cabot Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 7.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,735 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 3,140 shares during the period. Cabot Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $9,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Danaher by 20.6% in the fourth quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 9,597 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,639 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,066,755 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $933,524,000 after purchasing an additional 135,047 shares in the last quarter. Camden National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 285.0% in the fourth quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 7,227 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,659,000 after purchasing an additional 5,350 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,677,032 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,303,163,000 after purchasing an additional 579,046 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Terra Alpha Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,068,000. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DHR. HSBC dropped their target price on Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wolfe Research dropped their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $220.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered Danaher from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $248.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,005,442. The trade was a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total value of $245,925,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 3,105,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 11.20% of the company's stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE:DHR traded up $1.79 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $196.23. The stock had a trading volume of 6,548,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,476,584. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $209.51. Danaher Corporation has a 12-month low of $171.00 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The stock has a market cap of $140.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.77.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.80% and a net margin of 15.81%. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

About Danaher

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.