Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Upgraded to Buy by HSBC

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) was upgraded by research analysts at HSBC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $280.00 target price on the conglomerate’s stock, up from their previous target price of $250.00. HSBC’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 16.73% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. KeyCorp raised their target price 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 upped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $268.27.

Danaher Trading Down 0.2 %

DHR stock traded down $0.48 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $239.86. The company had a trading volume of 1,838,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,690,349. 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 capitalization of $177.63 billion, a PE ratio of 37.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $249.42 and a 200 day moving average of $229.79. Danaher has a 12 month low of $182.09 and a 12 month high of $259.00.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.18. Danaher had a net margin of 17.26% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.87 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Danaher will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total value of $5,986,764.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,102 shares in the company, valued at $9,601,704. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Walter G. Lohr sold 3,289 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $826,032.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,548,498.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total transaction of $5,986,764.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,102 shares in the company, valued at $9,601,704. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,957 shares of company stock worth $8,265,802 over the last ninety days. 10.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Danaher

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at about $683,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its holdings in Danaher by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 26,611 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,156,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 296,996 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $68,707,000 after purchasing an additional 96,395 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 4.8% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,080 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $764,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, Keybank National Association OH boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 0.5% in the third quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 553,155 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $137,238,000 after acquiring an additional 2,567 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

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.