Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Price Target Raised to $270.00

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) had its price target upped by Leerink Partners from $260.00 to $270.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,MarketScreener reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

DHR has been the topic of several other reports. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Argus set a $265.00 price objective on Danaher in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $252.83.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $236.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.52. The firm has a market cap of $166.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.67, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.89. Danaher has a 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 week high of $258.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $228.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.99.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The conglomerate reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $6 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.71 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Danaher will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 26th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.39%.

Insider Activity at Danaher

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Danaher

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

About Danaher

Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) is a global science and technology company that designs, manufactures and markets products and services for the life sciences, diagnostics, and environmental and applied markets. The company organizes its operations into business segments focused on Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental & Applied Solutions, supplying instruments, reagents, software and related services that support research, clinical testing, biopharmaceutical development, and industrial and environmental monitoring.

Products and services in Danaher’s portfolio include analytical and diagnostic instruments, laboratory consumables and reagents, digital and software solutions for workflow and data management, field and industrial monitoring equipment, and service and maintenance programs.