Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher (NYSE:DHR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup increased their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Danaher in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. They set a buy rating and a $295.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $269.29.

Danaher Stock Down 0.7 %

Danaher stock opened at $250.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $185.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.38, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher has a 12 month low of $182.09 and a 12 month high of $269.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $255.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $246.43.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.62 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 16.78%. Danaher’s revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.36 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Danaher will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Alan G. Spoon sold 708 shares of the business’s 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 approximately $28,304,483.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Alan G. Spoon sold 708 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total transaction of $172,454.64. Following the sale, the director now owns 116,202 shares in the company, valued at $28,304,483.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.00, for a total transaction of $2,386,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,352,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 148,783 shares of company stock worth $37,536,717. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Danaher

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Tsfg LLC increased its position 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 during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.