PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 303,043 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,499 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $84,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC increased its position in Danaher by 3.2% during the third quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC now owns 238,092 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $66,194,000 after acquiring an additional 7,421 shares during the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher during the third quarter valued at $217,000. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher during the second quarter valued at $363,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. increased its position in Danaher by 1.2% during the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 202,263 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $56,233,000 after acquiring an additional 2,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co increased its position in Danaher by 75.4% during the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 4,360 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after acquiring an additional 1,874 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DHR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Danaher from $278.00 to $277.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com cut Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen upped their price target on Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Danaher from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $287.16.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total value of $255,488.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,130,374.44. This trade represents a 18.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 10.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $230.76 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $260.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $260.32. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $207.63 and a twelve month high of $281.70. The firm has a market cap of $166.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 16.39%. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 20.61%.

Danaher Company Profile

Danaher Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets professional, medical, industrial, and commercial products and services worldwide. The Biotechnology segments offers bioprocess technologies, consumables, and services that advance, accelerate, and integrate the development and manufacture of therapeutics; cell line and cell culture media development services; cell culture media, process liquids and buffers for manufacturing, chromatography resins, filtration technologies, aseptic fill finish; single-use hardware and consumables and services, such as the design and installation of full manufacturing suites; lab filtration, separation, and purification; lab-scale protein purification and analytical tools; reagents, membranes, and services; and healthcare filtration solutions.