Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Hits New 1-Year High at $279.75

Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $279.75 and last traded at $279.75, with a volume of 545882 shares. The stock had previously closed at $275.19.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DHR has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Danaher from $297.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Danaher from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Citigroup upped their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Danaher currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $276.88.

Danaher Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $255.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $250.20. The stock has a market cap of $200.11 billion, a PE ratio of 46.96, a PEG ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.05 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, CFO Matthew Mcgrew sold 46,377 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.05, for a total transaction of $11,735,699.85. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,441,441.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Danaher news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 19,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $4,866,675.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,578,725. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew Mcgrew sold 46,377 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.05, for a total value of $11,735,699.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 29,407 shares in the company, valued at $7,441,441.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 84,775 shares of company stock worth $21,802,690. 11.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Danaher

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Danaher by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 2,925 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $677,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $216,000. Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,485 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Danaher by 33.5% during the 4th quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 6,868 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,589,000 after purchasing an additional 1,722 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonegate Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 243,646 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $56,365,000 after purchasing an additional 3,970 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.