Wolfe Research Upgrades Danaher (NYSE:DHR) to Outperform

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Danaher (NYSE:DHR) from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Wolfe Research currently has $285.00 price target on the conglomerate’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Danaher from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Danaher from $333.00 to $311.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Danaher from $309.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.16.

Danaher Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE DHR opened at $247.76 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.28, a P/E/G ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.85. Danaher has a 52-week low of $190.95 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $266.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $260.51.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Danaher will post 7.51 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total transaction of $255,488.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,130,374.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Danaher

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of DHR. Norden Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the 1st quarter worth about $4,151,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 44.5% in the 1st quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,970 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 41.4% in the 1st quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 2,943 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $735,000 after purchasing an additional 861 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 42,467 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $10,605,000 after purchasing an additional 2,085 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the 1st quarter worth about $401,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.