Daymark Wealth Partners LLC Has $3.28 Million Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Daymark Wealth Partners LLC cut its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 8.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,989 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 1,532 shares during the quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $3,278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,130,740,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Danaher by 24,958.2% during the first 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 during the fourth quarter worth $391,172,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,601,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Danaher by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,361,183 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,460,215,000 after buying an additional 1,566,658 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on DHR. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Danaher from $265.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Argus lowered their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $248.17.

Danaher Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE DHR traded down $4.59 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $200.51. The company had a trading volume of 3,391,410 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,489,228. The stock has a market capitalization of $143.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $171.00 and a 1-year high of $281.70. The firm's 50 day moving average is $192.27 and its 200-day moving average is $211.44.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.58 billion. On average, analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Danaher's payout ratio is 24.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total transaction of $245,925,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01% 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.

Danaher 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.