Wendell David Associates Inc. Sells 4,636 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Wendell David Associates Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 6.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,442 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 4,636 shares during the period. Danaher makes up about 1.3% of Wendell David Associates Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Wendell David Associates Inc.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $12,801,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Danaher by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $13,715,641,000 after purchasing an additional 315,912 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Danaher by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,056,996,000 after purchasing an additional 315,446 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Danaher by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,589,019 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,971,609,000 after purchasing an additional 441,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Danaher by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,934,991 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,821,477,000 after purchasing an additional 992,594 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DHR. Wolfe Research decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $220.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Argus cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $248.17.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other Danaher news, 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 owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 transaction of $245,925,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 3,105,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $201.14 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.95 billion, a PE ratio of 38.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $193.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $210.53. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $171.00 and a 12 month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Analysts forecast that Danaher Co. 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 paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Danaher's payout ratio is 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.

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