Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Danaher (NYSE:DHR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. HSBC lowered their target price on Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.17.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR stock opened at $204.62 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.67. The firm has a market cap of $146.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. Danaher has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. On average, equities analysts predict that Danaher will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total value of $245,925,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 3,105,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $611,036,665.92. The trade was a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Danaher

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Spinnaker Trust increased its holdings in Danaher by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 4,304 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $988,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,983 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $914,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its stake in Danaher by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 8,287 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,902,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Danaher by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 1,099 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perennial Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,343 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

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.