Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Stock Price

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) had its price objective lifted by Barclays from $205.00 to $215.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

DHR has been the topic of a number of other reports. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 target price (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $231.00 target price on Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $271.55.

Danaher Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of DHR opened at $192.06 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $137.27 billion, a PE ratio of 36.38, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $201.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $225.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher has a 12 month low of $171.00 and a 12 month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. On average, analysts anticipate that Danaher will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Danaher

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. XML Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher by 30.2% during the first quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 6,380 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,481 shares in the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 2,537 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $520,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 65,643 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $13,457,000 after purchasing an additional 11,924 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 10,149 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,081,000 after purchasing an additional 1,221 shares during the period. Finally, Live Oak Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 3.9% during the first quarter. Live Oak Private Wealth LLC now owns 45,506 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $9,329,000 after buying an additional 1,717 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

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.