Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Hits Expectations

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.14, RTT News reports. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE DHR traded up $2.85 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $225.93. 505,157 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,466,284. Danaher has a 12-month low of $221.34 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $235.66 and a 200 day moving average of $253.24. The company has a market cap of $163.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 20.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on DHR shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James decreased their price target on Danaher from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

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.