Danaher (NYSE:DHR) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Danaher (NYSE:DHR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

DHR has been the topic of several other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Danaher from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Danaher from $212.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Danaher from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Danaher from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.55.

Danaher Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $221.26 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $211.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.88. Danaher has a one year low of $160.93 and a one year high of $242.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $155.54 billion, a PE ratio of 39.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. Danaher’s payout ratio is 28.42%.

Institutional Trading of Danaher

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DHR. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the 2nd quarter worth $10,492,520,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 2nd quarter worth $1,456,317,000. Generation Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 2nd quarter worth $1,287,949,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Danaher in the second quarter worth $993,846,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Danaher in the second quarter worth $801,056,000. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Company 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.