Montis Financial LLC Buys 342 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Montis Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 28.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,533 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the quarter. Montis Financial LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $352,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Danaher by 63.3% in the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 price objective (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.76.

Danaher Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of DHR stock opened at $211.09 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $220.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $240.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $150.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.98, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

About Danaher

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.