B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Acquires New Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 278,089 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $77,314,000. Danaher comprises approximately 0.8% of B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 2nd quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 2nd quarter worth about $51,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on DHR shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Danaher from $278.00 to $277.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Leerink Partners lifted their price objective on Danaher from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Danaher in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.16.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR stock opened at $229.50 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $207.63 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $261.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $260.45. The company has a market capitalization of $165.76 billion, a PE ratio of 43.80, a P/E/G ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.85.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 16.39%. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. Danaher’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 20.61%.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total value of $255,488.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,130,374.44. This trade represents a 18.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Danaher 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.