Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Stake Raised by Waverly Advisors LLC

Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 24.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,596 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 2,109 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $2,432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DHR. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its position in Danaher by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,749 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc. increased its position in Danaher by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 7,390 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,696,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Spinnaker Trust increased its position in Danaher by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 4,304 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $988,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC increased 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 buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its position in Danaher by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 8,287 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,902,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird dropped 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. Wall Street Zen lowered Danaher from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. HSBC dropped their target price on Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $263.24.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR stock traded down $2.69 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $184.79. 2,814,188 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,475,339. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $195.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $215.71. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $171.00 and a one year high of $281.70. The company has a market cap of $132.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.58 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.85%.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.