Osprey Private Wealth LLC Boosts Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Osprey Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 18.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,380 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 2,130 shares during the period. Danaher makes up 1.6% of Osprey Private Wealth LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Osprey Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $2,743,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher during the first quarter valued at approximately $262,000. Baker Chad R increased its holdings in Danaher by 7.1% during the first quarter. Baker Chad R now owns 68,665 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $14,076,000 after buying an additional 4,545 shares during the last quarter. Tran Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in Danaher by 4.6% during the first quarter. Tran Capital Management L.P. now owns 190,519 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $39,056,000 after buying an additional 8,328 shares during the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC increased its holdings in Danaher by 3.6% during the first quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $364,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Danaher by 1.6% during the first quarter. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,646 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,002,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on DHR. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Argus dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Leerink Partners upped their price target 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $248.17.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total transaction of $245,925,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR stock traded down $4.59 during trading on Friday, hitting $200.51. 3,391,410 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,489,228. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $211.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $143.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.77.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released 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. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. As a group, research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.85%.

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.