UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Sells 5,410 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp lowered its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 12.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 39,776 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,410 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises 1.3% of UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $20,693,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth $189,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 20,629 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,732,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Baxter Bros Inc. grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. now owns 28,462 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,807,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the period. Bay Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $346,000. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 110,251 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $57,356,000 after purchasing an additional 7,986 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total value of $2,010,263.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,759,736.32. The trade was a 25.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 1.2 %

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $513.77 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $493.30 and a 12-month high of $627.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $193.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $544.56 and a 200 day moving average of $554.22.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. As a group, research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.23.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc provides life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services in the North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company's Life Sciences Solutions segment offers reagents, instruments, and consumables for biological and medical research, discovery, and production of drugs and vaccines, as well as diagnosis of infections and diseases; and solutions include biosciences, genetic sciences, and bio production to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural, clinical, healthcare, academic, and government markets.