Conning Inc. Sells 2,877 Shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Conning Inc. trimmed its position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 11.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,400 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 2,877 shares during the period. Conning Inc.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $4,387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,983 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $914,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Fayez Sarofim & Co boosted its position in Danaher by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 8,287 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC boosted its position in Danaher by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 1,099 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Danaher by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,343 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,739 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total transaction of $245,925,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. The trade was a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on DHR shares. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $248.61.

Danaher Price Performance

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

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.80% and a net margin of 15.81%. Research analysts expect that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.