Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Given New $260.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) had its price objective decreased by Jefferies Financial Group from $285.00 to $260.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price for the company. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $275.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Danaher currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $284.14.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $223.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $236.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $253.66. Danaher has a 1-year low of $223.00 and a 1-year high of $281.70. The company has a market cap of $161.15 billion, a PE ratio of 42.58, a P/E/G ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 16.39%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Danaher will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Danaher

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,566,116,000 after acquiring an additional 3,217,631 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Danaher by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,097,986 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,417,342,000 after purchasing an additional 148,251 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Danaher by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,552,640 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,265,725,000 after purchasing an additional 116,299 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Danaher by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,582,982 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $996,141,000 after purchasing an additional 535,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Danaher by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,715,826 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $382,936,000 after purchasing an additional 9,942 shares in the last quarter. 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.