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

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

Danaher Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE DHR traded down $0.41 on Tuesday, reaching $212.19. 1,243,193 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,487,652. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $219.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $240.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher has a fifty-two week low of $196.80 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 last year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. Analysts forecast that Danaher will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.32 dividend. 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. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 24.24%.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Danaher

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of DHR. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $2,130,740,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,566,116,000 after purchasing an additional 3,217,631 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $391,172,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 4,248.8% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,639,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $376,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,601,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 32.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,361,183 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,460,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566,658 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Barclays cut their price objective on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.