Meyer Handelman Co. Lowers Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Meyer Handelman Co. lowered its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 5.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 49,327 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 2,648 shares during the quarter. Meyer Handelman Co.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $10,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Danaher Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE:DHR traded down $0.86 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $189.04. The company had a trading volume of 3,027,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,478,071. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.80, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $192.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $213.41. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $171.00 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders 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 0.68%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total value of $245,925,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at $611,036,665.92. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 Danaher stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at $3,005,442. This trade represents 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 analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a 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 for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, HSBC reduced their price target on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.