Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nineteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $233.6087.

DHR has been the topic of several research reports. Argus cut their price objective on Danaher from $265.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Danaher from $270.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Friday, March 27th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Danaher from $245.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Danaher in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $230.00 price objective on the stock.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR stock opened at $180.65 on Friday. Danaher has a 52-week low of $160.93 and a 52-week high of $242.80. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $181.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $204.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.81.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The conglomerate reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $5.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.91% and a net margin of 14.89%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Danaher will post 8.43 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 26th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 26th. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 30.95%.

Institutional Trading of Danaher

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Main Street Group LTD bought a new stake in Danaher in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Danaher in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in Danaher in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd bought a new stake in Danaher in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Danaher

Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) is a global science and technology company that designs, manufactures and markets products and services for the life sciences, diagnostics, and environmental and applied markets. The company organizes its operations into business segments focused on Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental & Applied Solutions, supplying instruments, reagents, software and related services that support research, clinical testing, biopharmaceutical development, and industrial and environmental monitoring.

Products and services in Danaher’s portfolio include analytical and diagnostic instruments, laboratory consumables and reagents, digital and software solutions for workflow and data management, field and industrial monitoring equipment, and service and maintenance programs.