Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher (NYSE:DHR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday morning.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Danaher from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America upped their target price on Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wolfe Research raised Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays decreased their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $275.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $287.16.

Danaher Trading Up 1.0 %

DHR opened at $233.10 on Monday. Danaher has a 52 week low of $213.61 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $259.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $260.13. The company has a market capitalization of $168.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.48, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.85. 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 (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 16.39% and a return on equity of 10.62%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Danaher will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. Danaher’s payout ratio is 20.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total value of $255,488.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,130,374.44. This trade represents a 18.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 10.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Danaher

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher by 50.3% in the first quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 6,211 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,553,000 after acquiring an additional 2,079 shares during the period. Natixis Investment Managers International grew its holdings in Danaher by 26.8% in the first quarter. Natixis Investment Managers International now owns 178,715 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $44,629,000 after purchasing an additional 37,729 shares during the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the first quarter valued at $98,913,000. MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 1st quarter worth about $230,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Danaher during the first quarter worth about $162,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

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.