Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) Stock Holdings Reduced by General American Investors Co. Inc.

General American Investors Co. Inc. cut its position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 9.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,010 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. General American Investors Co. Inc.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $10,252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Danaher by 396.0% during the first 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. Sierra Ocean LLC grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 116.9% during the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 141 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DHR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $248.48.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chairman directly owned 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at $611,036,665.92. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The transaction 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 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 15,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.20% of the company's stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DHR traded down $4.81 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $189.98. 4,239,169 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,523,488. The firm has a market cap of $135.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.89, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.77. Danaher Corporation has a twelve month low of $171.00 and a twelve month high of $281.70. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $196.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $205.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.80% and a net margin of 15.81%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.85%.

About Danaher

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.