SFE Investment Counsel Has $4.87 Million Stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

SFE Investment Counsel increased its position in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 37.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,744 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 6,517 shares during the quarter. SFE Investment Counsel's holdings in Danaher were worth $4,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,983 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $914,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Fayez Sarofim & Co boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 8,287 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,902,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 1,099 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,343 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $538,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 4,285 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $984,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chairman owned 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. HSBC reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $235.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $247.61.

Danaher Trading Up 1.4%

DHR traded up $2.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $205.60. The stock had a trading volume of 5,355,676 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,965,185. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $196.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $203.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.77. Danaher Corporation has a 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.62.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.16. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 14.21%. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Danaher's payout ratio is 27.23%.

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.