Fortis Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Fortis Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 27.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,238 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 845 shares during the quarter. Fortis Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $514,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DHR. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 4.1% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 7.4% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 379,341 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $105,464,000 after buying an additional 26,124 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Danaher by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 51,110 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $14,210,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $259,000. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $422,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR opened at $211.63 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $151.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.08, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $196.80 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $217.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $238.68.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (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 previous year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. Analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 24.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on DHR shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.24.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 10.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.