Danaher Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:DHR)

Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders acquired 24,187 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 308% compared to the average volume of 5,928 put options.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DHR traded up $10.81 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $189.95. The stock had a trading volume of 5,080,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,551,663. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $184.49 and a 200-day moving average of $197.34. The firm has a market cap of $134.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.72, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Danaher has a fifty-two week low of $160.93 and a fifty-two week high of $242.80.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.12 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 15.95%.The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Danaher will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 26th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.95%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Danaher

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,681,334 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,345,529,000 after buying an additional 472,608 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,246,008 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,177,386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487,768 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,973,240 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,656,595,000 after purchasing an additional 1,334,221 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Danaher by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,076,796 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,451,380,000 after buying an additional 1,517,904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,177,106,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler began coverage on Danaher in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Danaher from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $265.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Danaher has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.91.

Danaher Company Profile

Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) is a global science and technology company that designs, manufactures and markets products and services for the life sciences, diagnostics, and environmental and applied markets. The company organizes its operations into business segments focused on Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental & Applied Solutions, supplying instruments, reagents, software and related services that support research, clinical testing, biopharmaceutical development, and industrial and environmental monitoring.

Products and services in Danaher’s portfolio include analytical and diagnostic instruments, laboratory consumables and reagents, digital and software solutions for workflow and data management, field and industrial monitoring equipment, and service and maintenance programs.