GAM Holding AG Purchases 1,631 Shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

GAM Holding AG raised its position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 12.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,547 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 1,631 shares during the quarter. GAM Holding AG's holdings in Danaher were worth $2,982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 29,855 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $6,853,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $74,551,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in Danaher by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 192,731 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $44,241,000 after buying an additional 35,730 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in Danaher by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 14,835 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $3,405,000 after buying an additional 1,541 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DHR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. HSBC cut their price objective on Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Danaher from $240.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $248.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 11.20% of the company's stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR stock traded up $1.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $196.23. 6,548,950 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,476,584. 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 12 month low of $171.00 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $193.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $209.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.43 billion, a PE ratio of 38.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. Danaher had a net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 10.80%. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.58 billion. On average, research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Danaher's payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

About Danaher

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.