Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,322 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 2,324 shares during the period. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $4,895,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,130,740,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $391,172,000. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,361,183 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,460,215,000 after buying an additional 1,566,658 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Danaher by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,934,991 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,821,477,000 after acquiring an additional 992,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Danaher by 6,862.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $213,452,000 after purchasing an additional 916,513 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Up 1.6%

Danaher stock traded up $3.05 during trading on Thursday, reaching $190.87. The stock had a trading volume of 6,578,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,449,851. The stock has a market cap of $136.60 billion, a PE ratio of 36.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $197.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $218.33. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $171.00 and a 52-week 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion during 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%. On average, analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. Danaher's payout ratio is 24.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on DHR shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, April 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $264.40.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 3,105,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 11.10% of the company's stock.

About Danaher

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.