Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Boosts Stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Key Points

• Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Danaher Corporation by 11.5%, owning 311,496 shares worth $63.86 million by the end of the first quarter.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Danaher's stock, with price targets ranging from $205.00 to $275.00, although it has an overall consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Danaher recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.32, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.62% and a payout ratio of 27.23%.

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 11.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 311,496 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 32,047 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Danaher were worth $63,857,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 7.8% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 3,718 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $707,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 14.2% during the first quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,344 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $826,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in shares of Danaher by 1.4% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 22,644 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $4,642,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. Bearing Point Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Bearing Point Capital LLC now owns 35,510 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $7,280,000 after buying an additional 2,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FourThought Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,520 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $517,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total transaction of $245,925,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Stock Down 1.3%

DHR traded down $2.57 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $202.91. 5,160,180 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,951,987. Danaher Corporation has a 12-month low of $171.00 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $196.38 and a 200 day moving average of $203.44. The firm has a market cap of $145.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.16. Danaher had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.72 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Danaher's payout ratio is currently 27.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Danaher from $210.00 to $205.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Danaher from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $275.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $247.61.

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.