Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC Sells 13,462 Shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 90.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,396 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 13,462 shares during the period. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 192,731 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $44,241,000 after purchasing an additional 35,730 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Danaher by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 238,148 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $54,667,000 after acquiring an additional 5,161 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Danaher by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,566 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $589,000 after acquiring an additional 562 shares in the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Danaher by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 8,558 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,964,000 after acquiring an additional 2,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Danaher by 41.1% in the 4th quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 8,158 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,873,000 after acquiring an additional 2,378 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

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 value of $245,925,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR traded down $3.60 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $199.60. 2,388,352 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,495,257. Danaher Corporation has a 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $195.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $207.10. The firm has a market cap of $142.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 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 firm had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Danaher from $265.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. 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. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $248.61.

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.