Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Decreases Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. cut its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 53.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 51,534 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 58,888 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $10,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in Danaher by 380.0% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 168 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 now owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total value of $245,925,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at $611,036,665.92. The trade was a 28.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Danaher Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of Danaher stock traded down $4.59 on Friday, hitting $200.51. The company had a trading volume of 3,391,410 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,489,232. The stock has a market capitalization of $143.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.77. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $192.80 and a 200-day moving average of $211.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40.

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

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DHR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Danaher from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Five equities 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.com, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $248.17.

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.