Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG Sells 75,650 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG trimmed its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 32.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 157,001 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 75,650 shares during the quarter. Danaher accounts for 1.0% of Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings in Danaher were worth $43,649,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.8% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,153 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its position in Danaher by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,231 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Danaher by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 1,230 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co of Kansas lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Trust Co of Kansas now owns 1,022 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Danaher by 0.7% during the second quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 5,439 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,359,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $261.28 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $193.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.28, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.43. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $182.09 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $270.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $260.46.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 16.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on DHR shares. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $275.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Danaher from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Danaher from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.47.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total value of $255,488.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,130,374.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total value of $255,488.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares in the company, valued at $1,130,374.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew Mcgrew sold 16,172 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.84, for a total value of $4,525,572.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,229,254.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,659 shares of company stock valued at $11,042,433 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher 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.