Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Research Coverage Started at Scotiabank

Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Danaher (NYSE:DHR) in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a sector perform rating and a $265.00 target price on the conglomerate’s stock.

DHR has been the subject of a number of other reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Guggenheim started coverage on Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Danaher from $333.00 to $311.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James cut their price objective on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.05.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE:DHR opened at $230.75 on Monday. Danaher has a 52-week low of $222.53 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The business’s fifty day moving average is $241.38 and its 200 day moving average is $255.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $166.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.04, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 16.39% and a return on equity of 10.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Danaher will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Danaher

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 1.8% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,153 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,231 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Danaher by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 5,439 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,359,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Certified Advisory Corp lifted its position in Danaher by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 926 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Meridian Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 4.4% during the third quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 957 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

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.