Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $278.00.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research raised Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup reduced their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Bank of America raised Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Danaher

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE:DHR opened at $209.86 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $226.71 and a 200 day moving average of $246.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Danaher will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 20.45%.

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.