Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Greystone Financial Group LLC

Greystone Financial Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 97.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,015 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 46,795 shares during the period. Greystone Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 29,855 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,853,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $74,551,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Danaher by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,810 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR stock opened at $196.13 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $140.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $212.03.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. On average, equities analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors 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 0.65%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 owns 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at $611,036,665.92. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on DHR. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $263.24.

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.