StockNews.com Downgrades Danaher (NYSE:DHR) to Hold

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Thursday.

DHR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James dropped their price target on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wolfe Research raised shares of Danaher from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $285.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $309.00 to $305.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $287.16.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DHR traded down $8.39 on Thursday, hitting $227.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,333,100 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,778,343. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $164.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher has a 12-month low of $215.68 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $252.64 and a 200-day moving average of $258.91.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 16.39%. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Danaher will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in Danaher by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,153 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 3.2% in the 3rd 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. lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 1,230 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co of Kansas increased its position in shares of Danaher by 4.1% during the second quarter. Trust Co of Kansas now owns 1,022 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its position in Danaher by 0.7% in the second quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 5,439 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is 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.