Ahead of the Bell: Danaher slips on downgrade

Danaher Corp. fell in premarket trading Friday after an analyst downgraded shares of the diversified manufacturer in light of its stock outperforming peers plus the company's exposure to weakening European markets and a strengthening dollar.

Deutsche Bank analyst Nigel Coe in a note said shares of the Washington-based company are trading at about a 40 percent premium to the sector and at or close to historically high premiums versus large-cap industrial peers.

"This indicates that investors are paying a significant premium for DHR's defensive revenue footprint," he said. "This is certainly understandable in the current environment, but given concerns about DHR's sizable European footprint and foreign exchange headwinds we have lowered our 2009 earnings per share estimate by 3.5 percent to $4.75 and our target price from $90 to $85."

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect, on average, 2009 earnings per share of $4.94.

The analyst also downgraded the shares to "Hold" from "Buy."

Shares fell $1.47 to $76.70 in premarket trading.