Buffington Mohr McNeal Lowers Stock Position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Buffington Mohr McNeal reduced its stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 15.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 53,430 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 9,524 shares during the quarter. Danaher accounts for approximately 2.2% of Buffington Mohr McNeal's portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Buffington Mohr McNeal's holdings in Danaher were worth $10,953,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $13,715,641,000 after buying an additional 315,912 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,056,996,000 after purchasing an additional 315,446 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,130,740,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Danaher by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,934,991 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,821,477,000 after purchasing an additional 992,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Danaher by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,361,183 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,460,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566,658 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 3,105,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $611,036,665.92. The trade was a 28.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. HSBC decreased their price target on Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $248.61.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE DHR traded up $0.58 on Friday, reaching $203.08. 1,390,744 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,501,434. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Danaher Corporation has a 12 month low of $171.00 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The stock has a market cap of $145.33 billion, a PE ratio of 39.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $195.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $207.38.

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

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is 24.85%.

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.