Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Greenleaf Trust

Greenleaf Trust cut its holdings in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 6.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,343 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 6,166 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust's holdings in Danaher were worth $19,135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DHR. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Danaher by 396.0% in the 1st quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 124 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Sierra Ocean LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher by 116.9% in the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 141 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Trading Up 2.3%

DHR stock traded up $4.59 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $205.55. 3,088,154 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,506,068. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $195.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $206.65. The company has a market capitalization of $147.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.91, a PEG ratio of 2.82 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Danaher's payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,005,442. The trade was a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $245,925,000.00. Following the completion of 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. Insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $220.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. HSBC reduced their price target on Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Leerink Partners increased their price target on Danaher from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $248.00.

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.