Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Purchased by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 3.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,575 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 796 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $5,887,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new stake in Danaher during the first quarter worth about $5,573,000. Ballast Inc. boosted its position in Danaher by 5.4% during the first quarter. Ballast Inc. now owns 4,670 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,166,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its position in Danaher by 0.3% during the first quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 18,138 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,529,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Danaher by 28.4% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 4,293 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,072,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. boosted its position in Danaher by 3.0% during the first quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. now owns 4,031 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,007,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE DHR traded up $0.43 on Friday, reaching $246.70. 2,519,422 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,859,061. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $255.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $247.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $182.09 and a fifty-two week high of $269.11.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.62 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 16.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.36 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current 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. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Danaher from $266.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Bank of America increased their price target on Danaher from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $268.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.22, for a total value of $11,756,953.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,908,273.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.22, for a total value of $11,756,953.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,908,273.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total value of $1,000,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 29,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,457,798.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,783 shares of company stock valued at $37,536,717 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.