Former #1 still a star: Danaher

Article Excerpt

DANAHER CORP. $244 is a buy. The company (New York symbol DHR; Manufacturing sector; Shares o/s 713.1 million; Market cap: $174.0 billion; Dividend yield: 0.4%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.danaher.com) is a leading maker of precision-testing equipment and tools. Customers include medical research labs and municipal water utilities. Since we named Danaher as our #1 Spinoff Buy for 2020, it has shot up a whopping 49%. Even so, we feel it has more gains ahead. In March 2020, the company completed its purchase of the BioPharma division of General Electric Co. (New York symbol GE). It paid $20.7 billion for that business, now called Cytiva. The firm makes lab equipment for pharmaceutical companies developing new drugs. In the first quarter of 2021 Danaher’s revenue (including Cytiva) jumped 30.0% from a year-earlier. That’s mainly because COVID-19 continues to spur demand for its medical lab equipment and diagnostic tests. Danaher is a buy. As stock markets continue their strong rebound from last year’s coronavirus downturn, companies are once again turning to…