Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR – Get Rating) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $310.17.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Danaher in a report on Tuesday, August 16th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $340.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Danaher from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Danaher from $318.00 to $302.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Danaher from $350.00 to $315.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 21st.

Danaher Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of DHR opened at $269.34 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $196.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $260.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $266.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.38. Danaher has a 1 year low of $233.71 and a 1 year high of $331.23.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 30th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 29th. Danaher's payout ratio is 11.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Danaher news, CFO Matthew Mcgrew sold 18,935 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.72, for a total value of $5,201,823.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 29,634 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,141,052.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Matthew Mcgrew sold 18,935 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.72, for a total transaction of $5,201,823.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 29,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,141,052.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joakim Weidemanis sold 9,508 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.60, for a total value of $2,534,832.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 71,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,061,366.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,038 shares of company stock valued at $10,550,749 in the last quarter. 11.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Danaher by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,690,131 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $13,867,623,000 after purchasing an additional 995,501 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Danaher by 0.8% during the second quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,061,833 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $2,043,836,000 after purchasing an additional 65,824 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Danaher by 6.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,656,373 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,180,485,000 after purchasing an additional 279,432 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in Danaher by 10.2% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 4,649,220 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,157,183,000 after purchasing an additional 431,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in Danaher by 3.0% during the second quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,622,607 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,171,923,000 after purchasing an additional 135,251 shares in the last quarter. 77.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Danaher

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Danaher Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets professional, medical, industrial, and commercial products and services worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental & Applied Solutions. The Life Sciences segment provides mass spectrometers; flow cytometry, genomics, lab automation, centrifugation, particle counting and characterization; microscopes; genomics consumables; and Gene and Cell Therapy.

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