First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Cuts Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lessened its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 6.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,011 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 2,411 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $7,792,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 28.8% in the first quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,267 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,490,000 after buying an additional 1,627 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank grew its position in Danaher by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 3,052 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $626,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 34.0% in the first quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 14.6% during the first quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 19,221 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,940,000 after purchasing an additional 2,443 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR stock opened at $196.13 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $191.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $212.03. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $171.00 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.15, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.77.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.58 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, April 7th. HSBC dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $263.24.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total value of $245,925,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at $611,036,665.92. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

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.

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