Jefferies Financial Group Cuts Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Price Target to $260.00

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) had its target price trimmed by Jefferies Financial Group from $285.00 to $260.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on DHR. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective for the company. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.00.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE:DHR opened at $222.56 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $235.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $253.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.37. Danaher has a 52-week low of $221.34 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.75 billion, a PE ratio of 42.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.72%. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Danaher will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 20.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Danaher

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Danaher by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is 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.