Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. Lowers Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. decreased its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,959 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 4,067 shares during the period. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $8,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $13,715,641,000 after purchasing an additional 315,912 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,589,019 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,971,609,000 after buying an additional 441,012 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,578,945 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,051,097,000 after buying an additional 26,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Danaher by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,066,755 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $933,524,000 after acquiring an additional 135,047 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $205.01 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $146.52 billion, a PE ratio of 38.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $196.80 and a twelve month high of $281.70. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $213.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $235.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (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 prior year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price objective (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.24.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.