Parallel Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 37.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,409 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 4,763 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $3,569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DHR. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its stake in Danaher by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $4,874,000 after acquiring an additional 2,202 shares during the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. raised its position in Danaher by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 9,597 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,639 shares during the last quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,044,000. Compass Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Danaher by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Compass Capital Management Inc. now owns 237,922 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $54,615,000 after purchasing an additional 10,994 shares during the period. Finally, Channing Global Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Danaher by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. Channing Global Advisors LLC now owns 5,666 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,301,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the business'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 owns 3,105,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Danaher Trading Up 1.4%

DHR stock traded up $2.73 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $194.79. The company had a trading volume of 1,226,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,471,476. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $212.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $171.00 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $139.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.89, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Danaher's payout ratio is presently 24.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DHR. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. HSBC reduced their target price on Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $263.24.

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.