Short Interest in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Drops By 5.7%

Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,320,000 shares, a decline of 5.7% from the September 30th total of 5,640,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,370,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days. Approximately 0.8% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $247.82 on Friday. Danaher has a 12 month low of $190.95 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $178.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.29, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $266.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $260.37.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.59 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 16.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Danaher will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total transaction of $255,488.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,130,374.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of DHR. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Danaher in the second quarter valued at $25,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher during the second quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP purchased a new stake in Danaher in the first quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DHR. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Danaher in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partners increased their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America raised their target price on Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.16.

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.