Jefferies Financial Group Lowers Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Price Target to $260.00

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) had its price objective lowered by Jefferies Financial Group from $285.00 to $260.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

DHR has been the subject of several other research reports. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Danaher from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Scotiabank started coverage on Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 target price on the stock 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

Danaher Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $222.56 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $235.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $253.24. Danaher has a 1-year low of $221.34 and a 1-year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.72%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Danaher will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Danaher

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Danaher by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,566,116,000 after buying an additional 3,217,631 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 3.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,097,986 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,417,342,000 after acquiring an additional 148,251 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 2.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,552,640 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,265,725,000 after acquiring an additional 116,299 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Danaher by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,582,982 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $996,141,000 after purchasing an additional 535,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Danaher by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,715,826 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $382,936,000 after purchasing an additional 9,942 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.