Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Increases Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI grew its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 80.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,632 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 2,952 shares during the quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,844,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Danaher by 3.4% during the third quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,021 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Liberty Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Liberty Capital Management Inc. now owns 34,582 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $9,614,000 after buying an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. GAM Holding AG lifted its position in Danaher by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 14,322 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,982,000 after buying an additional 926 shares during the last quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 1.4% in the third quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 60,966 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $16,950,000 after buying an additional 821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 5.6% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 45,631 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $12,686,000 after acquiring an additional 2,431 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $256.29 on Wednesday. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $182.09 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The company has a market cap of $189.83 billion, a PE ratio of 43.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $270.67 and a 200 day moving average of $260.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 16.94%. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.59 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a report on Friday, September 6th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Danaher from $278.00 to $277.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $278.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $282.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,007 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $2,521,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 97,983 shares in the company, valued at $27,435,240. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Danaher news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,007 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $2,521,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 97,983 shares in the company, valued at $27,435,240. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were 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 $1,130,374.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,659 shares of company stock valued at $11,042,433 in the last quarter. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.