Robert W. Baird Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Stock

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) had its price objective hoisted by stock analysts at Robert W. Baird from $225.00 to $226.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the conglomerate’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective points to a potential upside of 18.96% from the stock’s previous close.

DHR has been the topic of several other research reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Danaher from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen increased their target price on Danaher from $240.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Argus reduced their target price on Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $248.48.

Danaher Stock Performance

DHR opened at $189.98 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $196.13 and its 200-day moving average is $205.03. The stock has a market cap of $135.96 billion, a PE ratio of 36.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher has a twelve month low of $171.00 and a twelve month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.80% and a net margin of 15.81%. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.58 billion. On average, analysts predict that Danaher will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total value of $245,925,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. The trade was a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Danaher

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 9,597 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,639 shares in the last quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the first quarter worth $539,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 20,400.0% during the first quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 8,200 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,681,000 after purchasing an additional 8,160 shares in the last quarter. Vision Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the first quarter worth $461,000. Finally, Eos Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 55.8% during the first quarter. Eos Management L.P. now owns 40,567 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,316,000 after purchasing an additional 14,537 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.