Short Interest in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Increases By 31.4%

Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 8,170,000 shares, a growth of 31.4% from the February 13th total of 6,220,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,280,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE:DHR traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $212.19. 1,243,193 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,487,652. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $219.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $240.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher has a 1 year low of $196.80 and a 1 year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Danaher will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.24%.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. 111 Capital acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,734,000. Thoma Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $618,000. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,410,000. Northstar Financial Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 47.9% in the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 13,208 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,032,000 after buying an additional 4,276 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 price target on Danaher in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.76.

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.