FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Buys 241 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,107 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Danaher makes up 0.8% of FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Danaher were worth $3,097,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its position in Danaher by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,874,000 after buying an additional 2,202 shares in the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. grew its stake in Danaher by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 9,597 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,639 shares during the last quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd purchased a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,591,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Danaher by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,066,755 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $933,524,000 after purchasing an additional 135,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Danaher by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 254,327 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $58,308,000 after purchasing an additional 49,964 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on DHR. Leerink Partners boosted their price target on Danaher from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Barclays upped their target price on Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Danaher from $240.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $248.17.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total value of $245,925,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 3,105,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,005,442. The trade was a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $200.51 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $143.50 billion, a PE ratio of 37.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $210.81. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $171.00 and a 1-year high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.85%.

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.