Brokerages Set Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) PT at $278.24

Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $276.57.

DHR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays raised Danaher from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $240.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price objective (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th.

Danaher Trading Up 4.4 %

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $188.75 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $134.90 billion, a PE ratio of 35.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $203.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $229.91. Danaher has a 12-month low of $171.00 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Danaher will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.24%.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Danaher

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 63.3% in the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Company Profile

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.