Stephens Reiterates Overweight Rating for Danaher (NYSE:DHR)

Stephens restated their overweight rating on shares of Danaher (NYSE:DHR) in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $315.00 price objective on the conglomerate’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $278.00 to $277.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.28.

Danaher Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:DHR opened at $245.39 on Wednesday. Danaher has a 12 month low of $182.09 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $269.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $260.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $181.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.59, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Danaher will post 7.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.31%.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total transaction of $255,488.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,130,374.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total transaction of $255,488.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,130,374.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew Mcgrew sold 16,172 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.84, for a total transaction of $4,525,572.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 29,407 shares in the company, valued at $8,229,254.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,059 shares of company stock valued at $8,400,897 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Danaher

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in Danaher by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,153 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in Danaher by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,231 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Danaher by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 1,230 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co of Kansas boosted its holdings in Danaher by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Trust Co of Kansas now owns 1,022 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abacus Planning Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Danaher by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 5,439 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently 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.