Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Ninety One UK Ltd

Ninety One UK Ltd reduced its stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 39.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,734 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 52,455 shares during the quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd's holdings in Danaher were worth $16,755,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Danaher by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $13,715,641,000 after buying an additional 315,912 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,056,996,000 after acquiring an additional 315,446 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Danaher by 2.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,783,485 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,800,614,000 after purchasing an additional 194,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Danaher by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,934,991 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,821,477,000 after buying an additional 992,594 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DHR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Leerink Partners raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $235.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, HSBC reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $248.43.

Insider Activity

In other Danaher news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total value of $245,925,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of DHR traded down $0.71 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $204.80. The company had a trading volume of 2,338,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,501,537. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Corporation has a 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The company's 50 day moving average price is $195.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $206.65. The stock has a market cap of $146.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.77, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.77.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 10.80%. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.85%.

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.