Short Interest in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Rises By 6.2%

Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,010,000 shares, a growth of 6.2% from the August 31st total of 6,600,000 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,750,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Leerink Partners boosted their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $271.00 to $278.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stephens began coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Tuesday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $315.00 target price for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $282.12.

Danaher Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE DHR opened at $274.54 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $270.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $258.24. The company has a market capitalization of $203.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Danaher has a 52 week low of $182.09 and a 52 week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.15. Danaher had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Danaher will post 7.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 18.31%.

Insider Activity

In other Danaher news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,007 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $2,521,960.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 97,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,435,240. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 9,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.16, for a total transaction of $2,641,536.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,566,486.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,007 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $2,521,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 97,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,435,240. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,659 shares of company stock worth $11,042,433. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Danaher

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tsfg LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher by 733.3% in the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 100 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Danaher during the second quarter valued at $25,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Danaher in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors own 79.05% 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.