Metis Global Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 40,844 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,512 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $9,449,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. now owns 3,915 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $906,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Danaher by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,062 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,865,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 540,184 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $126,008,000 after purchasing an additional 103,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 1,924 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Bank of America upped their target price on Danaher from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $267.31.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, Director Walter G. Lohr sold 3,289 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $826,032.35. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,548,498.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total transaction of $5,986,764.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,601,704. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Walter G. Lohr sold 3,289 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total transaction of $826,032.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,129 shares in the company, valued at $3,548,498.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 107,273 shares of company stock valued at $26,813,819. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Up 0.6 %

Danaher stock traded up $1.54 during trading on Friday, reaching $248.38. 1,787,817 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,914,990. The company’s 50-day moving average is $248.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $232.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.85. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $182.09 and a 52-week high of $259.00. The firm has a market cap of $183.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.10, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.62 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 16.78%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.36 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 18.31%.

About Danaher

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.