Mechanics Bank Trust Department Boosts Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Mechanics Bank Trust Department raised its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,398 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Danaher were worth $2,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DHR. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Danaher by 1.4% in the first quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 2,880 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $719,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. raised its position in Danaher by 3.0% in the first quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 1,442 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 1,899 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 2,517 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $582,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 3,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $803,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Danaher news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,005 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.00, for a total transaction of $2,386,325.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,352,350. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Matthew Mcgrew sold 16,172 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.84, for a total transaction of $4,525,572.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 29,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,229,254.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,005 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.00, for a total value of $2,386,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,352,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,797 shares of company stock valued at $18,039,944. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DHR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Danaher from $266.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. SVB Leerink lifted their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, HSBC raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $250.00 to $280.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Danaher has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $276.88.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE:DHR traded down $0.53 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $268.11. 2,017,772 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,898,902. The firm has a market capitalization of $198.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $257.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $252.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $182.09 and a twelve month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.05 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.