Banque Pictet & Cie SA Decreases Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA lessened its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,382 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 358 shares during the quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA’s holdings in Danaher were worth $4,449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on DHR. Bank of America upgraded shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.00.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE:DHR opened at $206.66 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $196.80 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The stock has a market cap of $149.26 billion, a PE ratio of 39.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $230.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $249.96.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. Analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 20.45%.

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.