Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Monday.

DHR has been the topic of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. HSBC decreased their price objective on Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $263.24.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR opened at $196.13 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $140.36 billion, a PE ratio of 37.15, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.77. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $191.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $212.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Danaher has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Danaher will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other Danaher news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total transaction of $245,925,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 3,105,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,005,442. The trade was a 51.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DHR. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC raised its position in shares of Danaher by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 29,855 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $6,853,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $74,551,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC increased its position in Danaher by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 3,088 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $709,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

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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