Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Stock Rating Upgraded by Stifel Nicolaus

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) was upgraded by investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The firm presently has a $260.00 target price on the conglomerate’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 23.17% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 target price (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.76.

Danaher Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of DHR stock opened at $211.09 on Friday. Danaher has a 1 year low of $196.80 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $220.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $240.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $150.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.98, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Danaher will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Danaher

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.