Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $184.96, but opened at $198.24. Danaher shares last traded at $195.42, with a volume of 1,158,688 shares trading hands.

The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Five research 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, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $264.40.

Insider Activity

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Danaher

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Danaher by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $13,715,641,000 after acquiring an additional 315,912 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Danaher by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $3,056,996,000 after buying an additional 315,446 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,589,019 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,971,609,000 after acquiring an additional 441,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Danaher by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,934,991 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,821,477,000 after buying an additional 992,594 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Danaher Stock Down 0.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $139.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The business's 50 day moving average is $201.01 and its 200-day moving average is $225.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40.

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.