MetLife Investment Management LLC Boosts Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 170,193 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,006 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $39,068,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Danaher by 63.3% in the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on DHR shares. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $231.00 price target on Danaher in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.55.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $186.71 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $201.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $226.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The company has a market capitalization of $133.44 billion, a PE ratio of 35.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.24%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.