Brokerages Set Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Target Price at $278.94

Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $278.94.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $266.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. TD Cowen increased their target price on Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Danaher from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $295.00 price target for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Danaher from $271.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR opened at $276.93 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $205.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.83. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $268.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $257.55. Danaher has a 12 month low of $182.09 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.15. Danaher had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.05 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Danaher will post 7.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.31%.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 9,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.16, for a total transaction of $2,641,536.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,566,486.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,007 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $2,521,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 97,983 shares in the company, valued at $27,435,240. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 9,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.16, for a total value of $2,641,536.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $5,566,486.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,659 shares of company stock valued at $11,042,433. 11.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Danaher

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its position in Danaher by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,830 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,632 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $840,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Danaher by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,917 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 1,469 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Danaher by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 215 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.