Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Upgraded to "Sector Outperform" at Scotiabank

Scotiabank upgraded shares of Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) from a sector perform rating to a sector outperform rating in a research note published on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $275.00 price target on the conglomerate's stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Danaher from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Danaher has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $248.43.

Danaher Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of DHR traded down $0.71 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $204.80. 2,369,010 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,504,283. Danaher has a 52-week low of $171.00 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $195.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $206.65. The firm has a market cap of $146.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.43.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.80% and a net margin of 15.81%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Danaher will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.85%.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total transaction of $245,925,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at $611,036,665.92. This represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Danaher

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DHR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Danaher by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,981,088 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $12,296,123,000 after acquiring an additional 230,966 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Danaher by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,592,211 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $4,016,404,000 after acquiring an additional 612,154 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Danaher by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,056,996,000 after acquiring an additional 315,446 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at $2,130,740,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Danaher by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,783,485 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,800,614,000 after acquiring an additional 194,466 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.