Palisade Capital Management LP Raises Holdings in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Palisade Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 136,993 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 1,736 shares during the quarter. Palisade Capital Management LP's holdings in Danaher were worth $28,084,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Danaher by 20.6% in the 4th quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 9,597 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $2,203,000 after buying an additional 1,639 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Danaher by 20,400.0% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 8,200 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,681,000 after purchasing an additional 8,160 shares in the last quarter. Camden National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 285.0% during the 4th quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 7,227 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,659,000 after purchasing an additional 5,350 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,677,032 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,303,163,000 after purchasing an additional 579,046 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Terra Alpha Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,068,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. HSBC cut their price target on Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $248.61.

Danaher Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE DHR traded up $0.58 during trading on Friday, reaching $203.08. The stock had a trading volume of 1,390,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,499,704. Danaher Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $171.00 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.43. The business's 50-day moving average price is $195.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $207.10. The company has a market cap of $145.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.43, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.77.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.80% and a net margin of 15.81%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.85%.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other Danaher news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of Danaher 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,005,442. The trade was a 51.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of Danaher 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.