Christopher Paul Riley Sells 15,805 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Stock

Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR opened at $199.15 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $199.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $222.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. Equities analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 28th. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 24.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $264.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Danaher

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Burling Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1.9% in the first quarter. Burling Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,849 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,299,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Hardy Reed LLC grew its stake in Danaher by 38.3% in the 1st quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 7,563 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,550,000 after purchasing an additional 2,093 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its position in shares of Danaher by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 7,905 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,621,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 410.7% during the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 208,359 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $42,714,000 after purchasing an additional 167,564 shares during the period. Finally, Montis Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Montis Financial LLC now owns 1,756 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

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.