Barclays Raises Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Price Target to $270.00

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) had its price objective increased by investment analysts at Barclays from $260.00 to $270.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the conglomerate’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 8.38% from the company’s current price.

DHR has been the topic of several other research reports. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. HSBC upgraded shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $280.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $268.67.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of Danaher stock traded down $3.98 on Wednesday, reaching $249.13. 1,122,664 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,755,977. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.68. Danaher has a 1-year low of $182.09 and a 1-year high of $259.00. The company’s 50-day moving average is $248.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $230.64. The firm has a market cap of $184.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. Danaher had a net margin of 17.26% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.36 EPS. Danaher’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Danaher will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total value of $636,280.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,029,891.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Danaher news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total value of $636,280.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,029,891.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Teri List sold 3,289 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.32, for a total transaction of $816,724.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 19,726 shares in the company, valued at $4,898,360.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,957 shares of company stock worth $8,265,802 in the last quarter. 10.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Danaher

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tsfg LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher by 733.3% during the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 100 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by 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.