DAVENPORT & Co LLC Buys 120,719 Shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 21.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 694,949 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 120,719 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises 0.8% of DAVENPORT & Co LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. DAVENPORT & Co LLC owned about 0.10% of Danaher worth $142,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 396.0% in the first quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 124 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total value of $245,925,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman 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 legal 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 stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,179 shares of the company's stock, 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Danaher Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:DHR traded up $1.38 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $202.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,503,624 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,503,614. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.32, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $195.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $207.84. Danaher Corporation has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $281.70.

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. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DHR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Argus reduced their price target on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Leerink Partners upped their target price on Danaher from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $248.61.

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.