HM Payson & Co. Has $28.68 Million Stock Position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

HM Payson & Co. trimmed its position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 139,900 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 2,615 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $28,680,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the first quarter worth $31,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE DHR opened at $203.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $145.33 billion, a PE ratio of 39.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.77. Danaher Corporation has a one year low of $171.00 and a one year high of $281.70. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $195.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.38. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion for 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors 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 0.63%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.85%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 15,179 shares in the company, valued at $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DHR. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $248.61.

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.

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