Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $268.03, but opened at $276.36. Danaher shares last traded at $274.58, with a volume of 451,238 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $280.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $271.00 to $278.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $315.00 price objective for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $282.12.

Danaher Stock Up 2.2 %

The business’s 50 day moving average is $270.53 and its 200 day moving average is $259.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market cap of $202.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.15. Danaher had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.05 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 18.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total transaction of $255,488.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,130,374.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares in the company, valued at $1,130,374.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Matthew Mcgrew sold 16,172 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.84, for a total transaction of $4,525,572.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 29,407 shares in the company, valued at $8,229,254.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,659 shares of company stock worth $11,042,433. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Danaher

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DHR. CWM LLC grew its position in Danaher by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 21,912 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $5,472,000 after purchasing an additional 2,799 shares during the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,519 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 4,023 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,005,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,391 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 1st quarter valued at about $207,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.