Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Choreo LLC

Choreo LLC lessened its holdings in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 30.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,143 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 6,560 shares during the period. Choreo LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $3,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 315,446 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,783,485 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,800,614,000 after buying an additional 194,466 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,934,991 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,821,477,000 after acquiring an additional 992,594 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 32.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,361,183 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,460,215,000 after acquiring an additional 1,566,658 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other 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 directly owned 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 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. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Danaher Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of DHR traded up $2.79 on Friday, hitting $205.60. 5,355,676 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,965,185. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Danaher Corporation has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The stock's 50 day moving average is $196.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $203.68.

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

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Danaher's payout ratio is 27.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on DHR shares. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Argus reduced their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Danaher from $265.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $247.61.

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.