Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by GW&K Investment Management LLC

GW&K Investment Management LLC cut its position in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 98.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 996 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 77,444 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $204,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Danaher by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $3,056,996,000 after acquiring an additional 315,446 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Danaher by 2.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,783,485 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,800,614,000 after acquiring an additional 194,466 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Danaher by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,934,991 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,821,477,000 after acquiring an additional 992,594 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its position in Danaher by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,361,183 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,460,215,000 after acquiring an additional 1,566,658 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Stock Up 2.7%

DHR stock traded up $5.32 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $203.21. 7,410,271 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,878,889. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.62. Danaher Corporation has a 1-year low of $171.00 and a 1-year high of $281.70. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $196.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $204.15. The company has a market cap of $145.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.77.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.83 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Danaher's payout ratio is 24.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on DHR shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $265.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $247.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 3,105,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. The trade was a 28.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,179 shares in the company, valued at $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

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.