Wedmont Private Capital Has $683,000 Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Wedmont Private Capital lowered its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 35.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,617 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 2,001 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital's holdings in Danaher were worth $683,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $2,130,740,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher by 24,958.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,870,847 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $383,524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,863,381 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $391,172,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 4,248.8% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,639,500 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $376,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,601,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 32.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,361,183 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,460,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566,658 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were 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. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Danaher Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE:DHR traded up $3.43 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $202.63. The stock had a trading volume of 4,484,996 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,488,367. The business's 50 day moving average is $191.22 and its 200-day moving average is $211.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a market cap of $145.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.77. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $171.00 and a one year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. Danaher's payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DHR. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. HSBC decreased their target price on Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Argus cut their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 in a report 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $248.17.

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.