Keystone Financial Group Inc. Acquires 2,889 Shares of Danaher Corporation $DHR

Keystone Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,889 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $640,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,807,000. Puzo Michael J purchased a new position in Danaher in the second quarter valued at approximately $8,624,000. Madison Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the second quarter valued at approximately $85,451,000. First Nebraska Trust Co purchased a new position in Danaher in the second quarter valued at approximately $14,106,000. Finally, Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the third quarter valued at $592,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on DHR. Barclays raised their target price on Danaher from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Danaher from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.41.

Danaher Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $223.30 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $212.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $195.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Danaher Corporation has a 12-month low of $160.93 and a 12-month high of $242.80. The company has a market cap of $156.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.66, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.76.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 20th. The conglomerate reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.12 billion. Danaher had a net margin of 15.95% and a return on equity of 11.04%. Danaher’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Danaher Corporation will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.42%.

Danaher Profile

Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) is a global science and technology company that develops and manufactures products, services and solutions for the life sciences, diagnostics and biotechnology industries. Its offerings help researchers, healthcare professionals and biopharmaceutical manufacturers discover, develop, produce and analyze medicines and other biological products.

The company operates through businesses that provide laboratory instruments, consumables, software and services, including technologies for cell analysis, genomics, protein research, bioprocessing and clinical diagnostics.