Sovran Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Sovran Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 64.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,683 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 1,835 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $875,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Danaher by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,983 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $914,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co lifted 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 worth $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 1,099 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Danaher by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,343 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in Danaher by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,739 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,005,442. The trade was a 51.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Danaher Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of DHR stock opened at $198.20 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $141.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.48, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.77. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $194.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $208.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Corporation has a 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.80% and a net margin of 15.81%. Analysts predict that Danaher Corporation 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 given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DHR. Leerink Partners lifted their price target on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research reduced their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $220.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on Danaher from $265.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.

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