FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Grows Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

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

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Danaher by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $13,715,641,000 after buying an additional 315,912 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Danaher by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,056,996,000 after acquiring an additional 315,446 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position 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 worth $1,971,609,000 after purchasing an additional 441,012 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 992,594 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $200.51 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $192.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $210.81. The company has a market cap of $143.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.77. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during 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, analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, 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 transaction, the chairman now directly 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 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DHR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group cut their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. HSBC dropped their price objective on Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, April 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $248.17.

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.