Hudson Value Partners LLC Sells 17,718 Shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Hudson Value Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 78.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,977 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 17,718 shares during the quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $1,020,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Avantra Family Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in Danaher by 24.1% during the first quarter. Avantra Family Wealth Inc. now owns 1,345 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Danaher in the 1st quarter valued at $72,006,000. Center for Financial Planning Inc. grew its stake in Danaher by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 3,406 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH grew its stake in Danaher by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH now owns 68,224 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $13,986,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the period. Finally, Pacific Capital Partners Ltd bought a new position in Danaher in the 1st quarter valued at $7,175,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR traded up $0.88 on Thursday, hitting $201.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,562,250 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,497,229. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $194.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $208.77. Danaher Corporation has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The company has a market capitalization of $144.48 billion, a PE ratio of 39.20, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.77. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.58 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

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 issued 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 is 24.85%.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related 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 transaction of $245,925,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 3,105,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 now owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,005,442. The trade was 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 insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHR has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Danaher from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. UBS Group cut their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Leerink Partners increased their price target on Danaher from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, HSBC cut their price target on Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Danaher has an average 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.