J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Has $31.57 Million Stake in Danaher Corporation $DHR

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG raised its holdings in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 28.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 137,920 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,333 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Danaher were worth $31,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Danaher by 1.9% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,758,240 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,318,926,000 after buying an additional 312,951 shares in the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 34.0% in the third quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 6,654,666 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,319,354,000 after buying an additional 1,689,020 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Danaher by 5.0% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,452,118 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $882,677,000 after buying an additional 211,053 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,369,219 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $866,241,000 after acquiring an additional 28,583 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Danaher by 23.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,813,128 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $755,991,000 after acquiring an additional 729,597 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus set a $265.00 target price on Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Leerink Partners raised their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Friday. Finally, HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Gregory M. Milosevich sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.01, for a total value of $274,573.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,060,642.99. This represents a 20.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.20% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of DHR stock opened at $183.93 on Tuesday. Danaher Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $171.00 and a fifty-two week high of $242.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $208.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $214.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.87. The company has a market cap of $130.17 billion, a PE ratio of 36.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.93.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.09. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 14.71%.The company had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.14 EPS. Danaher’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 27th. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 31.75%.

About Danaher

Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) is a global science and technology company that designs, manufactures and markets products and services for the life sciences, diagnostics, and environmental and applied markets. The company organizes its operations into business segments focused on Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental & Applied Solutions, supplying instruments, reagents, software and related services that support research, clinical testing, biopharmaceutical development, and industrial and environmental monitoring.

Products and services in Danaher’s portfolio include analytical and diagnostic instruments, laboratory consumables and reagents, digital and software solutions for workflow and data management, field and industrial monitoring equipment, and service and maintenance programs.