Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. Lowers Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. lowered its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 484,404 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 22,982 shares during the period. Danaher makes up 1.3% of Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. owned about 0.07% of Danaher worth $111,195,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,056,996,000 after buying an additional 315,446 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in 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 valued at $1,971,609,000 after acquiring an additional 441,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Danaher by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,934,991 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,821,477,000 after acquiring an additional 992,594 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

DHR stock opened at $196.33 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $196.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $216.91. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The stock has a market cap of $140.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.58 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 yield of 0.65%. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 24.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $264.40.

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.