Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $285.00 to $265.00. The stock had previously closed at $247.84, but opened at $235.02. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Danaher shares last traded at $230.31, with a volume of 3,000,262 shares changing hands.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on DHR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 price objective (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Danaher

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the third quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the third quarter valued at about $40,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Stock Down 0.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $161.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $235.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $253.45.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.39% and a return on equity of 10.62%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 20.61%.

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.