B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Sells 24,970 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG trimmed its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 253,119 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 24,970 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Danaher were worth $58,072,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its position in shares of Danaher by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,874,000 after buying an additional 2,202 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 1,212.8% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $636,000 after acquiring an additional 2,559 shares during the last quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $8,044,000. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Danaher by 1.3% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 847,348 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $235,583,000 after acquiring an additional 11,216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compass Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Danaher by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Compass Capital Management Inc. now owns 237,922 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $54,615,000 after buying an additional 10,994 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on DHR. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup reduced their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $205.69 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $236.39. The stock has a market cap of $147.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.96, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $196.80 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, 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 will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

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.