Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) Stake Boosted by Calamos Advisors LLC

Calamos Advisors LLC grew its stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 203,473 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 2,143 shares during the quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $41,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Danaher by 396.0% in the first quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 124 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the first quarter worth $31,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 3,105,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $611,036,665.92. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on DHR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of 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 dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Argus cut their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Danaher from $240.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $248.61.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DHR traded up $0.58 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $203.08. 1,390,744 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,501,434. The company has a market cap of $145.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.43, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $195.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.59. Danaher Corporation has a 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

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

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. Danaher's payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

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.