Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $236.08, but opened at $254.72. Danaher shares last traded at $251.85, with a volume of 1,551,076 shares.

The conglomerate reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.62 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 17.26% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.36 EPS.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on DHR shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Danaher from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Citigroup raised their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. HSBC upgraded shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $280.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $270.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Teri List sold 3,289 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.32, for a total transaction of $816,724.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,898,360.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total transaction of $5,986,764.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,102 shares in the company, valued at $9,601,704. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Teri List sold 3,289 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.32, for a total value of $816,724.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,898,360.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 32,957 shares of company stock worth $8,265,802. Insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Danaher

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Tsfg LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 733.3% during the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 100 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Price Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $249.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $230.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.19, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

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.