Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Bought by WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc.

WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 5.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,785 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 810 shares during the quarter. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $3,942,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DHR. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC raised its position in Danaher by 25.9% during the first quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC now owns 2,505 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $626,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in Danaher by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 14,011 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,499,000 after buying an additional 1,880 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Resource Council acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 1st quarter valued at $260,000. Arcus Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 43.2% in the first quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,800 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $699,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the first quarter valued at $4,151,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.22, for a total value of $11,756,953.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,908,273.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Matthew Mcgrew sold 46,377 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.05, for a total transaction of $11,735,699.85. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,441,441.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.22, for a total transaction of $11,756,953.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,908,273.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 148,783 shares of company stock valued at $37,536,717. Company insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DHR has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. HSBC raised shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Danaher from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $268.67.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $240.00. 1,935,837 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,506,555. 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 1-year low of $182.09 and a 1-year high of $269.11. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $255.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $246.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.77 billion, a PE ratio of 40.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.62 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 11.43%. Danaher’s revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.36 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 18.31%.

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.