Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $272.09, but opened at $264.03. Danaher shares last traded at $265.82, with a volume of 701,234 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Danaher from $278.00 to $277.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $275.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Danaher from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Danaher from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Danaher in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $280.00 price objective for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.28.

Danaher Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $270.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $260.43. The company has a market cap of $189.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 16.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.59 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total transaction of $255,488.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,130,374.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Matthew Mcgrew sold 16,172 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.84, for a total transaction of $4,525,572.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,229,254.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total value of $255,488.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,212 shares in the company, valued at $1,130,374.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,059 shares of company stock worth $8,400,897 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Danaher

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 7.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,107,030 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $15,009,928,000 after purchasing an additional 4,163,657 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Danaher by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,964,031 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,490,112,000 after buying an additional 139,989 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.0% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,125,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,279,932,000 after buying an additional 52,679 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 2.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,398,649 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $849,195,000 after acquiring an additional 85,081 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Danaher by 22.7% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,047,728 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $761,475,000 after buying an additional 563,546 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

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.