Insider Selling: Danaher (NYSE:DHR) CAO Sells $1,782,186.88 in Stock

Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) CAO Christopher Bouda sold 7,598 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.56, for a total value of $1,782,186.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,136,137.92. The trade was a 45.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Danaher Stock Up 1.2%

DHR traded up $2.70 during trading on Thursday, reaching $236.77. The stock had a trading volume of 2,700,021 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,479,928. Danaher Corporation has a one year low of $160.93 and a one year high of $242.80. The company has a market capitalization of $166.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $218.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $201.81.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The conglomerate reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.92 by $0.19. Danaher had a net margin of 16.91% and a return on equity of 11.17%. The firm had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Danaher Corporation will post 8.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.19%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Danaher

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 2nd quarter valued at $10,492,520,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Danaher by 10.4% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,316,834 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,108,031,000 after acquiring an additional 1,542,310 shares during the period. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the second quarter valued at about $1,456,317,000. Generation Investment Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the second quarter worth about $1,287,949,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the second quarter worth about $993,846,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $275.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Danaher from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Danaher from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Danaher from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.91.

About Danaher

Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) is a global science and technology company that develops products, services and solutions for the life sciences, biotechnology and diagnostics markets. Its offerings help researchers, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, healthcare providers and other organizations conduct scientific research, develop and manufacture medicines, and diagnose disease.

The company operates through businesses that provide bioprocessing equipment and technologies, laboratory instruments, consumables, analytical tools and clinical diagnostic systems.