XML Financial LLC Increases Stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

XML Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 30.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,380 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 1,481 shares during the period. XML Financial LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $1,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $13,715,641,000 after buying an additional 315,912 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Danaher by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,056,996,000 after acquiring an additional 315,446 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Danaher by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,589,019 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,971,609,000 after purchasing an additional 441,012 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,934,991 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on DHR. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Argus lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Leerink Partners lifted their price target on Danaher from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $248.61.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR stock traded up $0.88 during trading on Thursday, hitting $201.88. The company had a trading volume of 5,562,250 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,497,229. The stock's 50-day moving average is $194.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $208.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.77. 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 Corporation has a 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 10.80%. As a group, analysts predict that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. Danaher's payout ratio is 24.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 51.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 now directly owns 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 11.10% 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.