Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $287.05.

Several equities research analysts have commented on DHR shares. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Danaher from $333.00 to $311.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James reduced their price target on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Danaher from $285.00 to $275.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Danaher

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,153 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in Danaher by 3.2% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,231 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Certified Advisory Corp raised its position in shares of Danaher by 4.5% during the second quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 926 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Meridian Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Danaher by 4.4% during the third quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 957 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Danaher by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $229.81 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $236.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $254.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.86, a P/E/G ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Danaher has a 52 week low of $222.53 and a 52 week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 16.39%. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Danaher will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.61%.

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.