Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. Sells 1,776 Shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 6.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,151 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 1,776 shares during the quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $5,361,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Danaher by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 9,597 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,639 shares during the period. Horizon Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 20,400.0% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 8,200 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,681,000 after buying an additional 8,160 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,677,032 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,303,163,000 after purchasing an additional 579,046 shares during the last quarter. Terra Alpha Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at $3,068,000. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 319,502 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $73,342,000 after acquiring an additional 7,695 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 3,105,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on DHR. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. HSBC cut their target price on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $248.00.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR traded up $1.07 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $200.70. 4,225,555 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,498,168. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $195.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $206.90. Danaher Corporation has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The stock has a market cap of $143.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. Danaher had a net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 10.80%. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.58 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

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.