Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Upgraded to Buy at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Danaher (NYSE:DHR) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $260.00 target price on the conglomerate’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on DHR. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.24.

Danaher Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $211.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. Danaher has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $217.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $238.50. The company has a market capitalization of $151.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Danaher will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s payout ratio is 24.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Danaher

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the third quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.