Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Cuts Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P reduced its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,253,353 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 44,659 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises approximately 70.4% of Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned 0.33% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $652,032,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of TMO. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 68,617.0% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 762,759 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $396,810,000 after purchasing an additional 761,649 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at $377,901,000. Lindsell Train Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth about $211,858,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,810,128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,461,913,000 after purchasing an additional 366,191 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,860,847 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,556,689,000 after purchasing an additional 340,263 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 0.2 %

TMO stock opened at $513.40 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $493.30 and a 52-week high of $627.88. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $543.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $553.93. The firm has a market cap of $193.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.06, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total transaction of $2,010,263.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,759,736.32. The trade was a 25.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on TMO shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.