The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Price Target to $230.00

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) had its target price trimmed by The Goldman Sachs Group from $265.00 to $230.00 in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on DHR. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Danaher from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Leerink Partners raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wolfe Research dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $247.35.

Danaher Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $198.20 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $199.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $214.77. Danaher has a 52-week low of $180.03 and a 52-week high of $242.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.32, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.09. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 14.71%.The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.14 earnings per share. Danaher’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Danaher will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 27th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 27th. Danaher’s payout ratio is 31.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gregory M. Milosevich sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.01, for a total transaction of $274,573.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,060,642.99. This represents a 20.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 10.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Danaher

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Danaher by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,681,334 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,345,529,000 after purchasing an additional 472,608 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,246,008 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,177,386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,487,768 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Danaher by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,973,240 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,656,595,000 after purchasing an additional 1,334,221 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Danaher by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,076,796 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,451,380,000 after acquiring an additional 1,517,904 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,177,106,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Company Profile

Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) is a global science and technology company that designs, manufactures and markets products and services for the life sciences, diagnostics, and environmental and applied markets. The company organizes its operations into business segments focused on Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental & Applied Solutions, supplying instruments, reagents, software and related services that support research, clinical testing, biopharmaceutical development, and industrial and environmental monitoring.

Products and services in Danaher’s portfolio include analytical and diagnostic instruments, laboratory consumables and reagents, digital and software solutions for workflow and data management, field and industrial monitoring equipment, and service and maintenance programs.