Global Trust Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Global Trust Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 42.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,242 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the period. Global Trust Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $255,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $13,715,641,000 after buying an additional 315,912 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,056,996,000 after buying an additional 315,446 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,589,019 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,971,609,000 after buying an additional 441,012 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,934,991 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,821,477,000 after buying an additional 992,594 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 3,105,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were 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 directly owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on DHR shares. Bank of America cut their price target on Danaher from $265.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on Danaher from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Danaher from $240.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.17.

Danaher Trading Up 0.2%

Danaher stock opened at $201.14 on Tuesday. 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 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The company has a market capitalization of $143.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $193.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $210.53.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

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

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.