Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) to Post Q3 2024 Earnings of $1.70 Per Share, Leerink Partnrs Forecasts

Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) – Stock analysts at Leerink Partnrs cut their Q3 2024 EPS estimates for Danaher in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, April 23rd. Leerink Partnrs analyst P. Souda now forecasts that the conglomerate will earn $1.70 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $1.87. The consensus estimate for Danaher’s current full-year earnings is $7.64 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Danaher’s Q4 2024 earnings at $2.42 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $7.60 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $2.25 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $8.70 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $9.63 EPS.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on DHR. TD Cowen upped their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. HSBC upgraded Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $280.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on Danaher from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $270.00.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR opened at $246.45 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $182.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.77, a P/E/G ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher has a fifty-two week low of $182.09 and a fifty-two week high of $259.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The business’s 50-day moving average is $248.87 and its 200-day moving average is $231.08.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.20. Danaher had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 11.43%. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.36 EPS. Danaher’s revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Danaher

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,752,382,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Danaher by 18.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,930,281 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,185,203,000 after acquiring an additional 3,905,449 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in Danaher by 214.4% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,073,661 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $711,051,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096,038 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Danaher by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 16,757,558 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,876,694,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Danaher by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,956,519 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,691,735,000 after acquiring an additional 1,334,781 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Danaher news, EVP Joakim Weidemanis sold 22,433 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.46, for a total value of $5,618,569.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 90,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,644,589.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.22, for a total transaction of $11,756,953.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,908,273.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Joakim Weidemanis sold 22,433 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.46, for a total value of $5,618,569.18. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 90,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,644,589.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 106,565 shares of company stock worth $26,641,364. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.31%.

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.