Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $246.7917.

Several research firms have recently commented on DHR. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Danaher in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. HSBC lifted their target price on shares of Danaher from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $241.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $247.00 price target on Danaher in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related news, Director Teri List sold 3,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.50, for a total transaction of $746,997.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,762 shares in the company, valued at $4,702,593. The trade was a 13.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 5,174 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.42, for a total transaction of $1,088,713.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $552,352.50. The trade was a 66.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 30,248 shares of company stock valued at $6,609,663. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DHR. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in Danaher during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE:DHR opened at $226.70 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $160.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.74, a PEG ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.89. Danaher has a 1-year low of $171.00 and a 1-year high of $258.23. The business has a 50 day moving average of $218.51 and a 200 day moving average of $205.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The conglomerate reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.17. Danaher had a net margin of 14.44% and a return on equity of 10.92%. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.71 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Danaher will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.39%.

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.