Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Short Interest Up 7.3% in November

Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) saw a large growth in short interest during 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 days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Danaher Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:DHR traded down $0.65 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $233.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,190,444 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,793,669. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $168.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $245.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $257.13. Danaher has a 12 month low of $222.53 and a 12 month high of $281.70.

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

Danaher Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $278.00 to $277.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Danaher from $333.00 to $311.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $275.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.95.

Institutional Trading of Danaher

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DHR. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. lifted its position in Danaher by 29.9% during the 2nd quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 6,389 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,596,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 23.3% in the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 10,328 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,595,000 after buying an additional 1,955 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC raised its position in Danaher by 8.7% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 934 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $233,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher by 5.8% in the second quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,206 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,551,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the period. Finally, MONECO Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher by 12.1% during the second quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 1,334 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $333,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.