FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Sells 177 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH lessened its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,866 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 177 shares during the quarter. Danaher accounts for 0.8% of FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Danaher were worth $3,412,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. InTrack Investment Management Inc grew its position in shares of Danaher by 47.5% during the 4th quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc now owns 9,969 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,369,000 after acquiring an additional 3,209 shares during the period. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA lifted its stake in Danaher by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Danaher by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,037 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $927,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in Danaher by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 5,289 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,214,000 after buying an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sax Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 83.7% in the fourth quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,260 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $748,000 after buying an additional 1,485 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR opened at $238.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $234.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $253.37. The company has a market cap of $172.20 billion, a PE ratio of 45.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $222.53 and a 12-month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 16.39% and a return on equity of 10.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.02 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on DHR shares. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective for the company. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $275.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $286.80.

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.