Capital Advisors Inc. OK Sells 34,539 Shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Capital Advisors Inc. OK reduced its position in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 16.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 171,326 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 34,539 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK's holdings in Danaher were worth $35,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Danaher by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $13,715,641,000 after purchasing an additional 315,912 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Danaher by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,056,996,000 after purchasing an additional 315,446 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Danaher by 2.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,783,485 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,800,614,000 after purchasing an additional 194,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Danaher by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,934,991 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,821,477,000 after purchasing an additional 992,594 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the firm'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 sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,179 shares in the company, valued at $3,005,442. The trade was a 51.01% 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 Price Performance

Shares of DHR traded up $4.20 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $203.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 698,043 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,484,661. Danaher Corporation has a one year low of $171.00 and a one year high of $281.70. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $195.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $206.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Danaher from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $248.00.

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.