Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Legacy Private Trust Co.

Legacy Private Trust Co. reduced its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 12.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,733 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 3,204 shares during the period. Legacy Private Trust Co.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $4,660,000 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. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $2,130,740,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $391,172,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in Danaher by 4,248.8% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,639,500 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $376,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,601,800 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Danaher by 32.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,361,183 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,460,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566,658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Danaher by 460.6% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,348,544 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $309,558,000 after acquiring an additional 1,107,998 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE:DHR traded up $3.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $192.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,027,254 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,468,611. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market cap of $137.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.45, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. The business's fifty day moving average is $192.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.12.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.67%. Danaher's payout ratio is 24.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,005,442. The trade was a 51.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on DHR. HSBC lowered their price objective on Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen raised Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $263.24.

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.