MetLife Investment Management LLC Purchases 3,006 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 170,193 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 3,006 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $39,068,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norinchukin Bank The grew its stake in Danaher by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 30,045 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $6,897,000 after acquiring an additional 3,002 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Inc. CA lifted its position in Danaher by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 276,163 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $63,393,000 after purchasing an additional 31,905 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Danaher by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,812,728 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,334,312,000 after acquiring an additional 370,111 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 32.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,361,183 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,460,215,000 after buying an additional 1,566,658 shares during the period. Finally, Curi RMB Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 221,914 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $50,940,000 after purchasing an additional 23,688 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Danaher Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of Danaher stock traded up $4.45 on Wednesday, reaching $196.52. The company had a trading volume of 6,494,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,349,299. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $201.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $225.77. 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 firm has a market cap of $140.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. As a group, research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Danaher's payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DHR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $264.40.

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.