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

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on DHR. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Raymond James restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $263.24.

Danaher Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of DHR traded up $4.48 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $189.02. The company had a trading volume of 2,990,603 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,473,399. Danaher has a 1-year low of $171.00 and a 1-year high of $281.70. The stock has a market cap of $135.28 billion, a PE ratio of 35.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $194.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $214.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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, topping 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 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. Research analysts forecast that Danaher will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. Danaher's payout ratio is 24.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of Danaher 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 3,105,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $611,036,665.92. The trade was a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 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. 11.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Danaher

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 396.0% during the 1st quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 124 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC increased its position in Danaher by 116.9% during the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 141 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.