Czech National Bank Buys 7,584 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 5.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 146,962 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 7,584 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank's holdings in Danaher were worth $30,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 29,855 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $6,853,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $74,551,000. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $3,497,000. Austin Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,846 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $424,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. The trade was a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on DHR shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, HSBC decreased their target price on Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $263.24.

Danaher Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:DHR traded up $0.01 during trading on Thursday, reaching $193.09. 1,225,647 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,469,305. The firm has a market cap of $138.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $191.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $212.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $171.00 and a 1-year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. Research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm 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 0.66%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.85%.

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.