Short Interest in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Grows By 21.7%

Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,340,000 shares, a growth of 21.7% from the March 31st total of 6,030,000 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 4,840,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE DHR traded down $2.61 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $194.79. The company had a trading volume of 1,210,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,359,206. The business has a 50 day moving average of $199.54 and a 200-day moving average of $220.89. The company has a market cap of $139.40 billion, a PE ratio of 36.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. Danaher has a 1-year low of $171.00 and a 1-year high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Danaher will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. This is a boost from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Danaher

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,749 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 7,390 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,696,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA raised its position in shares of Danaher by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Spinnaker Trust lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 4,304 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $988,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Danaher by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,983 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $914,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on DHR. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Danaher from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $264.40.

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.