Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Takes $1.99 Million Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,681 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $1,993,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 63.3% in the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on DHR shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group lowered their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, April 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned 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 $263.24.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of Danaher stock traded up $0.93 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $190.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,004,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,463,711. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 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. The company has a market capitalization of $136.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $194.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $214.67.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.85%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chairman now owns 3,105,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.20% of the company's stock.

Danaher 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.