JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Stock Price

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $280.00 to $260.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the conglomerate's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 35.37% from the company's current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $277.00 price objective (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $231.00 price objective on Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Raymond James reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $271.55.

Danaher Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of NYSE:DHR traded up $7.10 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $192.06. 6,684,869 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,348,710. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $201.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $226.01. Danaher has a 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $137.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Danaher will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Danaher

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Avantra Family Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 24.1% during the first quarter. Avantra Family Wealth Inc. now owns 1,345 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the first quarter valued at about $72,006,000. Center for Financial Planning Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 6.9% in the first quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 3,406 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $698,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH increased its position in Danaher by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH now owns 68,224 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $13,986,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the period. Finally, Sivik Global Healthcare LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. Sivik Global Healthcare LLC now owns 35,000 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $7,175,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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