Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) Shares Acquired by North Star Asset Management Inc.

North Star Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,406 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 3,941 shares during the quarter. Danaher makes up 1.1% of North Star Asset Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. North Star Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $23,248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DHR. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Danaher by 396.0% during the 1st quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 124 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Sierra Ocean LLC grew its position in Danaher by 116.9% during the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 141 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Trading Down 0.0%

DHR traded down $0.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $197.08. 5,736,543 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,315,577. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Danaher Corporation has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $279.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $197.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $202.96. The firm has a market cap of $141.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.77.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.16. Danaher had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. Danaher's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chairman directly owned 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 11.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on DHR. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $265.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $210.00 to $205.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $247.61.

Danaher Company 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.