Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 8.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 45,510 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 4,204 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $9,330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 68.4% during the first quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 165 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Danaher from $265.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Danaher from $240.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $248.61.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR opened at $200.85 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $194.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $209.00. The stock has a market cap of $143.74 billion, a PE ratio of 39.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.77. Danaher Corporation has a 1-year low of $171.00 and a 1-year high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) 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 firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 10.80%. As a group, analysts forecast that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 0.64%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 24.85%.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,005,442. The trade was a 51.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.