Claro Advisors LLC Takes Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Claro Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,022 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $255,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of DHR. MGO Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the first quarter worth approximately $287,000. Little House Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 22.9% during the first quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 14,910 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,723,000 after purchasing an additional 2,777 shares during the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 65.8% during the first quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,670 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,456 shares during the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 5.0% during the first quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 22,262 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $5,559,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LVW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the first quarter worth approximately $235,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 4,000 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,457,798.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total transaction of $1,000,040.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,457,798.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alan G. Spoon sold 708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total value of $172,454.64. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 116,202 shares in the company, valued at $28,304,483.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,783 shares of company stock valued at $37,536,717 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on DHR. Barclays increased their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. HSBC upgraded Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Danaher from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Danaher currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.29.

Danaher Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $244.51 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $255.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $246.75. 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 12-month low of $182.09 and a 12-month high of $269.11. The firm has a market cap of $181.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.44, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.31%.

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.