Chancellor Financial Group WB LP Acquires New Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Chancellor Financial Group WB LP bought a new position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,861 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $657,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. 111 Capital bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $1,734,000. Thoma Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $618,000. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $2,410,000. Northstar Financial Companies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $229,000. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 47.9% during the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 13,208 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $3,032,000 after purchasing an additional 4,276 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. HSBC reduced their target price on Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $263.24.

Danaher Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of DHR traded down $0.93 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $189.54. The stock had a trading volume of 6,514,078 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,485,177. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $171.00 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $214.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $135.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. Equities research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.85%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.20% of the company's stock.

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.