Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Danaher Corporation has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from 23 research firms, with 18 analysts issuing buy ratings and 5 recommending hold.
• The average 1-year price target for Danaher shares is $243.39, with Barclays recently raising their target to $250.00 and Scotiabank setting a target of $275.00.
• The company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, and has declared a $0.32 quarterly dividend scheduled to be paid at the end of October.

Shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-three research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eighteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $243.3913.

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $226.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Danaher from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $275.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 11th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Teri List sold 2,778 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.06, for a total transaction of $586,324.68. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,379,706.06. This represents a 11.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Danaher by 22.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,126 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,871,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660 shares during the last quarter. Pacific Capital Partners Ltd acquired a new position in Danaher during the first quarter worth approximately $7,175,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Danaher by 396.0% during the first quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 124 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Danaher by 39.5% during the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,191 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $449,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Danaher by 356.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 611 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Danaher Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $223.03 on Friday. Danaher has a 12-month low of $171.00 and a 12-month high of $258.23. The company has a market capitalization of $157.54 billion, a PE ratio of 45.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm's 50-day moving average is $202.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $198.36.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.17. Danaher had a net margin of 14.44% and a return on equity of 10.92%. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.71 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Danaher has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.700-7.800 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Danaher will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, September 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 26th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.23%.

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.

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