World Equity Group Inc. Has $951,000 Stock Holdings in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

World Equity Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 68.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,594 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 1,868 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $951,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Danaher by 68.4% in the first quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 165 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Danaher by 380.0% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 168 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE DHR traded up $1.79 during trading on Friday, hitting $196.23. 6,548,950 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,476,584. The company has a market capitalization of $140.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.77. Danaher Corporation has a 12-month low of $171.00 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $209.51. 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 (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.80% and a net margin of 15.81%. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.85%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 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. Company insiders own 11.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on DHR shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Wolfe Research lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $220.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $248.17.

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.