Swiss National Bank Decreases Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Swiss National Bank decreased its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,978,608 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 104,300 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.27% of Danaher worth $550,093,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $267,000. Accredited Investors Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher during the third quarter worth $278,000. River Street Advisors LLC boosted its position in Danaher by 2.7% during the third quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 2,486 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 6.4% in the third quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 865 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $240,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 802,429 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $223,091,000 after buying an additional 39,029 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Danaher Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE DHR traded down $8.88 during trading on Friday, hitting $230.50. 5,435,775 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,011,640. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $262.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $260.57. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $206.30 and a 1 year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 16.39%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.51 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total transaction of $255,488.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,130,374.44. This trade represents a 18.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DHR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Danaher from $278.00 to $277.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $287.16.

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.