Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Shares Gap Up on Strong Earnings

Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $236.08, but opened at $254.72. Danaher shares last traded at $251.85, with a volume of 1,551,076 shares changing hands.

The conglomerate reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. Danaher had a net margin of 17.26% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.36 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $270.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total transaction of $5,986,764.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,601,704. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Teri List sold 3,289 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.32, for a total value of $816,724.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,898,360.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total transaction of $5,986,764.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,601,704. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,957 shares of company stock valued at $8,265,802 in the last three months. Company insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Tsfg LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher by 733.3% in the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 100 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $249.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $230.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.83.

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.