World Investment Advisors Buys 1,923 Shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

World Investment Advisors raised its stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 13.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,879 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 1,923 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors' holdings in Danaher were worth $3,255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 396.0% during the first quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 124 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE DHR traded down $3.60 during trading on Monday, reaching $199.60. 2,388,352 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,495,257. The company has a market cap of $142.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.77. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $195.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $207.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.43. Danaher Corporation has a 1-year low of $171.00 and a 1-year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 10.80%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued 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 is currently 24.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Danaher from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $225.00 target price (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Danaher from $240.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $248.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chairman directly owned 3,105,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 11.20% of the company's stock.

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.