New York State Common Retirement Fund Lowers Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 913,871 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 63,900 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.13% of Danaher worth $209,779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Danaher Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE DHR traded up $1.91 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $209.86. 6,209,935 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,574,762. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company's 50 day moving average price is $227.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $247.52. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $196.80 and a 12 month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. This is a boost from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher's payout ratio is presently 20.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DHR. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $277.00 price objective (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Raymond James reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $278.00.

Danaher 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.