Wills Financial Group LLC Acquires New Stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Key Points

• Wills Financial Group LLC has acquired 41,182 shares of Danaher Corporation, valued at approximately $8,442,000, making it the 6th largest holding in their portfolio.
• Insider Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares, decreasing his ownership by 28.70%, with the total transaction valued at around $245.9 million.
• Danaher recent quarterly report showed an earnings per share of $1.80, beating estimates, and a year-over-year revenue increase of 3.4%.

Wills Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 41,182 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $8,442,000. Danaher comprises about 3.7% of Wills Financial Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Danaher by 396.0% in the first quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 124 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Sierra Ocean LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 116.9% during the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 141 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Danaher during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the business'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 transaction, the chairman owned 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at $611,036,665.92. The trade was a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on DHR shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Danaher from $210.00 to $205.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Leerink Partners raised their price target on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. HSBC decreased their target price on Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued 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 target price of $247.61.

Danaher Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:DHR traded up $1.69 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $199.15. 4,001,120 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,702,217. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Danaher Corporation has a 52-week low of $171.00 and a 52-week high of $279.90. The business's fifty day moving average is $197.75 and its 200-day moving average is $201.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.73.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.83 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

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.