Short Interest in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Drops By 22.5%

Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,030,000 shares, a decline of 22.5% from the March 15th total of 7,780,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,580,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days. Currently, 0.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Danaher

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DHR. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its position in shares of Danaher by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,874,000 after buying an additional 2,202 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Danaher by 1,212.8% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $636,000 after buying an additional 2,559 shares in the last quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $8,044,000. Compass Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Danaher by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Compass Capital Management Inc. now owns 237,922 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $54,615,000 after purchasing an additional 10,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Channing Global Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Channing Global Advisors LLC now owns 5,666 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,301,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on DHR shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays upgraded Danaher from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $240.00 to $205.00 in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.55.

Danaher Stock Performance

Danaher stock traded down $1.87 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $184.96. The stock had a trading volume of 3,817,809 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,487,384. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.19 billion, a PE ratio of 35.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $201.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $226.60. Danaher has a 12 month low of $171.00 and a 12 month high of $281.70.

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 net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.24%.

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.