Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG Boosts Stock Position in Danaher Corporation $DHR

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 25.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 366,481 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 74,301 shares during the quarter. Danaher makes up approximately 1.7% of Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG owned about 0.05% of Danaher worth $83,895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. Mirabaud & Cie SA increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA now owns 5,127 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,174,000 after buying an additional 1,025 shares during the period. Tema Etfs LLC lifted its stake in Danaher by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Tema Etfs LLC now owns 16,714 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,826,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the period. Triad Investment Management purchased a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $4,931,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Danaher by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 21,201 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,853,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Inc. OK boosted its holdings in Danaher by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 230,926 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $52,863,000 after acquiring an additional 13,796 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $190.88 on Thursday. Danaher Corporation has a 12 month low of $171.00 and a 12 month high of $242.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $206.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $214.45.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.79 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 14.71% and a return on equity of 10.81%. The company’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.14 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 27th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DHR has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Danaher from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Danaher from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Leerink Partners lifted their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, EVP Gregory M. Milosevich sold 1,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.01, for a total transaction of $274,573.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,060,642.99. This trade represents a 20.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Profile

Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) is a global science and technology company that designs, manufactures and markets products and services for the life sciences, diagnostics, and environmental and applied markets. The company organizes its operations into business segments focused on Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental & Applied Solutions, supplying instruments, reagents, software and related services that support research, clinical testing, biopharmaceutical development, and industrial and environmental monitoring.

Products and services in Danaher’s portfolio include analytical and diagnostic instruments, laboratory consumables and reagents, digital and software solutions for workflow and data management, field and industrial monitoring equipment, and service and maintenance programs.