Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Shares Gap Up to $236.08

Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $236.08, but opened at $254.72. Danaher shares last traded at $251.85, with a volume of 1,551,076 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on DHR shares. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays increased their price target on Danaher from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Danaher from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, HSBC upgraded Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $268.27.

Danaher Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $187.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.46, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $248.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $230.39.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.18. Danaher had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 17.26%. The business had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.87 EPS. Danaher's revenue for the quarter was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. This is a boost from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Danaher's payout ratio is presently 16.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, Director Teri List sold 3,289 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.32, for a total transaction of $816,724.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,898,360.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Teri List sold 3,289 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.32, for a total transaction of $816,724.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,726 shares in the company, valued at $4,898,360.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total value of $636,280.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,029,891.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,957 shares of company stock valued at $8,265,802 in the last three months. 10.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Danaher

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Tsfg LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 733.3% in the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 100 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Company Profile

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.