Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 29.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 148,893 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 33,970 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $30,523,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 68.4% during the first quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 165 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen upped their target price on Danaher from $240.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. UBS Group cut their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, HSBC dropped their price objective on Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $248.17.

Danaher Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of DHR traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $196.49. 3,826,474 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,478,451. Danaher Corporation has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The firm's fifty day moving average is $193.96 and its 200-day moving average is $209.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.77.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 10.80% and a net margin of 15.81%. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.85%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 3,105,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $611,036,665.92. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 11.20% 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.