Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Sunbelt Securities Inc.

Sunbelt Securities Inc. cut its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 24.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,013 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,299 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DHR. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.00, for a total transaction of $2,386,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,990 shares in the company, valued at $28,352,350. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,005 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.00, for a total value of $2,386,325.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,990 shares in the company, valued at $28,352,350. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total value of $1,000,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 29,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,457,798.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 148,783 shares of company stock worth $37,536,717. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR opened at $251.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.85. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $182.09 and a fifty-two week high of $269.11. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $255.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $246.19. The company has a market capitalization of $186.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.85.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.62 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 16.78%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.36 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 18.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays increased their target price on Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Danaher from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.29.

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.