Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) Receives $249.92 Average PT from Analysts

Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty-one have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $249.9167.

A number of brokerages have commented on DHR. Robert W. Baird set a $247.00 price target on Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, December 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $270.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Danaher from $230.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, Director Teri List sold 3,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.50, for a total value of $746,997.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,702,593. This represents a 13.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 21,776 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.23, for a total value of $4,773,952.48. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,190,454.19. The trade was a 59.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 30,248 shares of company stock valued at $6,609,663. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Danaher

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,769,587 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,004,424,000 after purchasing an additional 788,499 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Danaher by 1.9% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,758,240 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,318,926,000 after buying an additional 312,951 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Danaher by 0.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,726,194 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,697,800,000 after buying an additional 81,670 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the second quarter worth about $1,979,503,000. Finally, Generation Investment Management LLP boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 34.0% during the 3rd quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 6,654,666 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,319,354,000 after acquiring an additional 1,689,020 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $238.28 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $225.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $210.61. Danaher has a 12-month low of $171.00 and a 12-month high of $258.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.13, a P/E/G ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The conglomerate reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.17. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.92% and a net margin of 14.44%.The company had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Danaher will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.39%.

About Danaher

Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) is a global science and technology company that designs, manufactures and markets products and services for the life sciences, diagnostics, and environmental and applied markets. The company organizes its operations into business segments focused on Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental & Applied Solutions, supplying instruments, reagents, software and related services that support research, clinical testing, biopharmaceutical development, and industrial and environmental monitoring.

Products and services in Danaher’s portfolio include analytical and diagnostic instruments, laboratory consumables and reagents, digital and software solutions for workflow and data management, field and industrial monitoring equipment, and service and maintenance programs.