Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Director Sells $172,454.64 in Stock

Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Director Alan G. Spoon sold 708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total value of $172,454.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 116,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,304,483.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Danaher Price Performance

Danaher stock opened at $248.38 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.85. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $182.09 and a one year high of $259.00. The company has a market cap of $183.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a fifty day moving average of $248.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $232.60.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. Danaher had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 11.43%. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on DHR. Barclays lifted their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Danaher from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $267.31.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Danaher

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Tsfg LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher by 733.3% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 100 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.