Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Short Interest Update

Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) was the recipient of a significant 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. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 4,280,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC raised its position in Danaher by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Up 3.4 %

NYSE DHR opened at $211.09 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $220.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $240.45. Danaher has a twelve month low of $196.80 and a twelve month high of $281.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 earned $2.09 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Danaher will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DHR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 price objective (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Scotiabank started coverage on Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America raised Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.76.

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.