Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Shares Gap Up - What's Next?

Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $268.03, but opened at $276.36. Danaher shares last traded at $274.58, with a volume of 451,238 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on DHR. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Stephens started coverage on Danaher in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $315.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Danaher from $271.00 to $278.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Leerink Partners increased their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $282.12.

Danaher Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $201.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.83. 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 business's fifty day moving average is $270.53 and its 200 day moving average is $259.65.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 16.94%. The company's revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.05 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.59 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is 18.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total transaction of $255,488.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,212 shares in the company, valued at $1,130,374.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Danaher news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,007 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $2,521,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 97,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,435,240. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total value of $255,488.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,130,374.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,659 shares of company stock worth $11,042,433 over the last 90 days. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Danaher

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in Danaher by 1.8% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,153 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 3.2% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,231 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. boosted its position in Danaher by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 1,230 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Trust Co of Kansas grew its holdings in Danaher by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Trust Co of Kansas now owns 1,022 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its position in Danaher by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 5,439 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. 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.