Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Sells 1,853 Shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 13.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,675 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 1,853 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $2,393,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in Danaher by 22.8% in the 4th 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. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,566 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares in the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its position in Danaher by 3.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Danaher by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,413 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $554,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 102,311 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $23,486,000 after purchasing an additional 4,287 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group cut their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Danaher from $240.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $248.00.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chairman directly owned 3,105,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $611,036,665.92. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of Danaher 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Danaher Trading Up 0.1%

Danaher stock traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $200.93. The stock had a trading volume of 2,050,741 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,496,423. The stock has a market capitalization of $143.80 billion, a PE ratio of 39.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Corporation has a 12 month low of $171.00 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $195.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $206.85.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 10.80% and a net margin of 15.81%. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Danaher's payout ratio is 24.85%.

Danaher 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.