Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Stock Bumped Down to “Hold” by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Danaher (NYSE:DHR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday,Wall Street Zen reports.

DHR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Danaher from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Danaher from $212.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Danaher from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Danaher from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.41.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $228.87 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $214.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $196.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.65, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.76. Danaher has a one year low of $160.93 and a one year high of $242.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 20th. The conglomerate reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.09. Danaher had a net margin of 15.95% and a return on equity of 11.04%. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Danaher will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 28.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the second quarter valued at about $10,492,520,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the second quarter worth about $1,456,317,000. Generation Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the second quarter worth about $1,287,949,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the second quarter worth about $993,846,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the second quarter worth about $801,056,000. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

About Danaher

Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) is a global science and technology company that develops products, services and solutions for the life sciences, biotechnology and diagnostics markets. Its offerings help researchers, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, healthcare providers and other organizations conduct scientific research, develop and manufacture medicines, and diagnose disease.

The company operates through businesses that provide bioprocessing equipment and technologies, laboratory instruments, consumables, analytical tools and clinical diagnostic systems.