Rice Partnership LLC Sells 18,852 Shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Rice Partnership LLC lowered its stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 39.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,068 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 18,852 shares during the quarter. Danaher makes up approximately 1.2% of Rice Partnership LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Rice Partnership LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $5,959,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,983 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $914,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 8,287 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,902,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 1,099 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,343 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,739 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 15,179 shares in the company, valued at $3,005,442. The trade was a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 value of $245,925,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 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. Company insiders own 11.20% of the company's stock.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE:DHR traded down $2.65 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $200.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 860,511 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,489,317. The company has a market capitalization of $143.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $171.00 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $195.63 and a 200-day moving average of $207.10.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.80% and a net margin of 15.81%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. HSBC reduced their price objective on Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Danaher from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Danaher has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $248.61.

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.