Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Has $132.13 Million Stock Holdings in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 7.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 644,548 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 46,768 shares during the period. Danaher accounts for approximately 1.3% of Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Danaher worth $132,132,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 29,855 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $6,853,000 after buying an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $74,551,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in Danaher by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 192,731 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $44,241,000 after purchasing an additional 35,730 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in Danaher by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 2,586 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $594,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on DHR shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Danaher from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group cut their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $248.17.

Danaher Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:DHR traded down $1.39 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $194.36. The company had a trading volume of 3,236,239 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,488,121. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $193.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $210.32. Danaher Corporation has a 12 month low of $171.00 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The stock has a market cap of $139.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.74, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The company 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%. On average, analysts predict that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. Danaher's payout ratio is presently 24.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of Danaher 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 now directly owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total transaction of $245,925,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at $611,036,665.92. The trade was a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.