New York State Teachers Retirement System Decreases Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 546,898 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 33,045 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.08% of Danaher worth $125,540,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 15.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $6,566,116,000 after purchasing an additional 3,217,631 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Danaher by 6,862.7% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $213,452,000 after buying an additional 916,513 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,582,982 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $996,141,000 after buying an additional 535,254 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 40,196.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 429,964 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $119,539,000 after buying an additional 428,897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 30.4% in the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,705,884 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $465,617,000 after acquiring an additional 397,671 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR stock traded down $2.09 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $204.22. The company had a trading volume of 5,587,725 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,517,413. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $228.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $248.61. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The company has a market capitalization of $147.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 previous year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $278.00.

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.