New York State Teachers Retirement System Cuts Stock Position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 7.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 506,770 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 40,128 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.07% of Danaher worth $103,888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DHR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $13,715,641,000 after buying an additional 315,912 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,056,996,000 after purchasing an additional 315,446 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $2,130,740,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Danaher by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,934,991 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,821,477,000 after purchasing an additional 992,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its position in Danaher by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,361,183 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,460,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566,658 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Danaher Trading Up 0.7%

DHR stock traded up $1.38 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $202.48. The company had a trading volume of 3,503,624 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,503,614. The company has a market capitalization of $144.91 billion, a PE ratio of 39.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $195.39 and a 200 day moving average of $207.80. Danaher Corporation has a 12 month low of $171.00 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.80% and a net margin of 15.81%. On average, equities analysts predict that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on DHR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, April 7th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Danaher from $240.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Danaher from $265.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, April 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $248.61.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total transaction of $245,925,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at $611,036,665.92. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

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.