Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Upgraded to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Danaher from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Leerink Partners increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $248.61.

Danaher Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of Danaher stock traded down $3.26 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $198.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,619,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,510,072. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $194.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $208.52. The company has a market capitalization of $141.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.77. Danaher has a one year low of $171.00 and a one year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.80% and a net margin of 15.81%. On average, research analysts forecast that Danaher will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. The trade was a 28.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Danaher by 396.0% during the 1st quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 124 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Sierra Ocean LLC increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 116.9% in the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 141 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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