Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $272.09, but opened at $264.03. Danaher shares last traded at $265.82, with a volume of 701,234 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Danaher from $271.00 to $278.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Danaher from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $282.12.

Danaher Trading Down 3.0 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $195.43 billion, a PE ratio of 46.15, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $270.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $260.34.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.15. Danaher had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.05 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.59 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 18.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other news, CFO Matthew Mcgrew sold 16,172 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.84, for a total value of $4,525,572.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 29,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,229,254.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 9,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.16, for a total transaction of $2,641,536.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,566,486.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Matthew Mcgrew sold 16,172 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.84, for a total transaction of $4,525,572.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 29,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,229,254.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,659 shares of company stock worth $11,042,433. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Danaher

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Danaher by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,107,030 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $15,009,928,000 after acquiring an additional 4,163,657 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Danaher during the first quarter valued at approximately $676,545,000. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Danaher by 99.0% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,358,706 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $339,473,000 after purchasing an additional 675,952 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 22.7% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,047,728 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $761,475,000 after buying an additional 563,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new position in Danaher in the 1st quarter worth $98,913,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

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.