Vontobel Holding Ltd. Sells 8,827 Shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 163,404 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 8,827 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $33,498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 396.0% during the 1st quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 124 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the first quarter worth $31,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE DHR traded up $1.38 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $202.48. The stock had a trading volume of 3,503,624 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,509,847. Danaher Corporation has a 12 month low of $171.00 and a 12 month 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 1.43. The company's 50-day moving average price is $195.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $207.84. The company has a market capitalization of $144.91 billion, a PE ratio of 39.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Argus reduced their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Leerink Partners lifted their price objective on Danaher from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $248.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,005,442. The trade was a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 11.20% of the company's stock.

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.