Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Short Interest Update

Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,420,000 shares, a growth of 7.3% from the November 15th total of 5,050,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,740,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR traded down $0.65 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $233.53. The stock had a trading volume of 3,190,444 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,793,669. Danaher has a 1-year low of $222.53 and a 1-year high of $281.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $246.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $257.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 16.39%. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Danaher will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 20.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on DHR shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $275.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Danaher from $275.00 to $278.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com lowered Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Danaher from $309.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $287.95.

Institutional Trading of Danaher

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Danaher in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.