Danaher (NYSE:DHR) PT Raised to $278.00

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) had its target price boosted by Robert W. Baird from $271.00 to $278.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on DHR. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Danaher from $266.00 to $260.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. SVB Leerink raised their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Danaher in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. They issued a buy rating and a $295.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Danaher from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Danaher from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $276.88.

Danaher Stock Up 1.4 %

DHR stock opened at $273.91 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.51. Danaher has a fifty-two week low of $182.09 and a fifty-two week high of $277.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $197.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.43, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.83. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $255.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $249.22.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.15. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 16.94%. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.05 earnings per share. Danaher’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Danaher will post 7.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. Danaher’s payout ratio is 18.31%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Alan G. Spoon sold 708 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total value of $172,454.64. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 116,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,304,483.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 9,600 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.16, for a total value of $2,641,536.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,566,486.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alan G. Spoon sold 708 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total value of $172,454.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 116,202 shares in the company, valued at $28,304,483.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 84,775 shares of company stock valued at $21,802,690. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Danaher

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DHR. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Tsfg LLC increased its holdings in Danaher by 733.3% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 100 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Danaher in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Danaher in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.